M'hamed Ababou ( ar, امحمد أعبابو; 1938 – 10 July 1971) was a senior
Moroccan Army officer. Along with General
Mohamed Medbouh
Mohamed Medbouh ( ar, محمد المدبوح; b. 1927 in Aknoul - d. 10 July 1971 in Skhirat) was a senior Moroccan Army officer. He was Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones in the government of Abdallah Ibrahim (1958-1960). He was co-o ...
he instigated an
attempted coup against king
Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to:
People
* Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name
*Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...
on 10 July 1971.
M'hamed Ababou was the director of the
Ahermoumou military non-commissioned officer training school.
[ Acting under his orders, about 1,200 cadets from the school seized the Royal summer palace at ]Skhirat
Skhirat ( ar, الصخيرات; Berber: ⴰⵙⵖⵉⵔⵔⴰⵜ) is a seaside town in Morocco situated between the administrative capital Rabat and the economic centre of Casablanca, known within Morocco for its idyllic beaches on the edge of ...
where a diplomatic function was being held to celebrate the King's forty-second birthday. Foreign and Moroccan VIPs were held under guard or fled along the nearby seafront. Approximately 100 guests, officials, servants and cadets were reported killed under confused circumstances. It was to be subsequently claimed that the young cadets had been told by Ababou and other officers that they were acting to protect King Hassan against rebels. Initially the only loyalist troops present at the palace were ceremonial guards and the king took refuge in a pavilion annex.
Ababou was killed on the day of the coup during an exchange of fire with royal troops led by General Bouhali, who had been dispatched to the palace to rescue the king.[
M'hamed Ababou had two brothers in the military; Mohamed (his elder by 4 years) with whom he co-organized the attempted coup and who would die in detention in 1976; and Chief Sergeant Abdelziz Ababou (his younger brother) who died during the coup itself.
]
See also
* Mohamed Ababou, his older brother
* Mohamed Amekrane, attempted a coup one year later in 1972
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ababoun, M'hamed
1938 births
People from Taza
1971 deaths
Moroccan colonels
Deaths by firearm in Morocco
Moroccan military personnel killed in action
Moroccan mutineers