Hamidou Laanigri ( ar, حميدو لعنيݣري) (born 1939 near

Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...

) is a Moroccan general and former head of the intelligence service of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. Laanigri was often accused of acts of torture in relation to the detention of Islamist activists after the 2003 Casablanca bombing and in connection with the secret Temara interrogation centre.

Early life

In 1956 Laanigri started his career in the military as a

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

working with general Driss Benomar—who is also from Meknes. Benomar sent Laanigri first to the military training school of Ahermoumou and then to the Officers School of Dar al-Bayda (Officers academy of Meknes), graduating with the rank of Second lieutenant (''sous-lieutenant''). He was deployed in Zag in 1960 and for a few months in

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

. In 1962 he joined the

Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie The Royal Gendarmerie ( ar, الدرك الملكي المغربي, ad-darak al-malikiyy al-maḡribiyy, french: Gendarmerie royale marocaine) is the national gendarmerie force of the Kingdom of Morocco, and comes under the joint-authority of ...

a year later and was posted to

Tangiers Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

and then

Kenitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou river, has a population in 201 ...

Gendarmerie career

In 1977 while a

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

at the Gendarmerie he headed the military unit that was deployed to

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

to help Mobutu quell the

Shaba I Shaba I was a conflict in Zaire's Shaba (Katanga) Province lasting from March 8 to May 26, 1977. The conflict began when the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC), a group of about 2,000 Katangan Congolese soldiers who were vete ...

rebellion. In 1979 he was sent to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

as a security instructor, returning to Morocco only in 1989.

Under Mohammed VI

In September 1999 he was promoted by

Mohammed VI Muhammad VI may refer to: * Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI (1868–1932), sultan of the Maldives from 1893 to 1902 * Mehmed VI (1861–1926), sultan of Ottoman Empire, from 1918 to 1922 * Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد الساد ...

to head the DST (''Direction de Surveillance du Territoire'') as a replacement for

Driss Basri Driss Basri ( ar, إدريس البصري ', 8 November 1938 in Settat – 27 August 2007) was a Moroccan politician who served as interior minister from 1979 to 1999. After General Oufkir's death in 1972, and then Ahmed Dlimi's death in 1983, D ...

. He was recommended by General Kadiri because he hated Islamists. In September 2006 he left the DST and was appointed as the General Inspector of the

Auxiliary Forces The General Inspectorate of Auxiliary Forces ( ar, القوات المساعدة, alquwaat almusa'ida; ber, ⵉⴷⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ ⵉⵎⴰⵡⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ, idwasen imawwasen; french: Forces Auxiliaires) is a security institution in Morocco, ...

. In late 2012 it was rumoured that he has retired, however in January 2014 he was reported as being the head of this paramilitary unit. Laanigri was the instigator of the Groupes urbains de sécurité (nickname Croatia) which were disbanded after he left the police directorate. In September 2011, Laanigri survived a road accident.

Early life

Gendarmerie career

Under Mohammed VI

References

See also