I was transferred to Morocco in 1970, with concurrent accreditation to Tunisia. Morocco, so near to Europe and yet so far from it! Primarily an Islamic state, its sympathies are always with Muslim countries. I felt the brunt of this when I had to explain to them our position on the Bangladesh war. No amount of argument would convince the Moroccans of the atrocities committed by Pakistan in East Pakistan, resulting in the flight of millions to India or of the justice of our cause in invading that territory to stop the genocide and remedy the situation. They seemed to think that India’s aim was really to break up Pakistan, a view which was expressed to me also by the President of Tunisia during my interview with him.
Where Islam was not involved, the Moroccans were very friendly to us and I had excellent relations with the authorities there.
My stay in Morocco was, however, not uneventful. Heads of diplomatic missions (but not their wives) were often invited by the King Hassan II on special occasions, one such being his birthday. On July 10th 1971, his birthday celebrations were held in the palace of Skhirat, some distance away from the capital Rabat. The functions started in the morning with golf and other distractions. The assembly was large, with governors of provinces, other high dignitaries of State, heads of diplomatic missions in Rabat and those accredited to Morocco from outside. It was an informal and carefree morning with a large orchestra, games, clay pigeon shooting, etc. By about noon, a rich buffet was laid out with choice dishes from Morocco and France. The gathering was on a large, rectangular platform with two tents pitched on both ends. Scarcely had everyone begun to eat when there was a rattle of gunfire, which was thought at first to be clay pigeon shooting. As the noise continued, I went out of curiosity to one of the tents and found the King standing on one side with a wounded man at his feet. Within seconds there was another burst of gunfire and everyone fell on the ground to escape the bullets. Sensing great danger, I sought refuge with others in one of the rooms beside the platform and could hear bullets hitting the walls outside and grenades exploding. I saw the King with a Minister and other running for refuge through our room. Soon soldiers with guns pointed appeared, forced us to raise our hands and shoved us outside the Palace, where we had to lie prostrate on the grass. Armed soldiers stood guard and after an hour or so, we were marched to another lawn, again to lie prostrate on the ground. The King’s brother and President Bourguiba’s son were also amongst us. Truckloads of soldiers went past, threatening to shoot us as they passed. We did not know from where they came or where they went, but some time later, the King suddenly appeared and recited the Surat-ul-Fatihah. Apparently, the coup had fizzled out.
The full story of this attempted coup d’etat is not known. It appears that the Lieutenant Colonel in command of Army cadets, some distance away from Rabat, brought them in trucks and while nearing Skhirat, said that he had news of the King being in danger and that they should go to his rescue. The cadets thought that they were asked to fire to save the King.
During the firing, the Belgian Ambassador to Morocco and members of the orchestra were killed and many were wounded.
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