Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi at-Torres (; approximately 1820 - September 13, 1908) was a Moroccan diplomat, representative of the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

in Tangier, and foreign minister of Morocco at the turn of the 20th century. He was present at the 1906

Algeciras Conference The Algeciras Conference of 1906 took place in Algeciras, Spain, and lasted from 16 January to 7 April. The purpose of the conference was to find a solution to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905 between France and Germany, which arose as Germany ...

, which established French preeminence among

European powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

in Morocco.

Biography

He was ''qa'id'' of Casablanca from about 1880. He then assumed the position of

Naib Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kings of Saxony to the Ge ...

or representative of the sultan in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

in 1883, taking over for Muhammad Bargash.Albert Cousin et Daniel Saurin, ''Le Maroc'', Paris, Librairie du Figaro, 1905, . The duties of this post involved interlocution between the Makhzen and the European diplomatic bodies in Tangier.

Envoy to the Vatican

Torres, sent by Sultan Hassan I to

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, led the first Moroccan diplomatic mission to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

in 1888. The position temporarily became less important from the death of Hassan I in 1894 until the death of Ba Ahmed in 1900, when his role of

grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

was more important.Albert Cousin et Daniel Saurin, ''Le Maroc'', Paris, Librairie du Figaro, 1905, p. 80-82.

Algeciras Conference

Sidi Mohammed Torres landing at Algeciras

He served as plenipotentiary representative of Sultan Abdelaziz at the Algeciras Conference of 1906, although Muhammad al-Muqri led the negotiations.''Le Radical'', 14 septembre 1908, p. 2. They encountered a number of challenges at the conference, chief among which was the matter of language, as they could not understand what was being said. They had to rely on an Algerian translator who was present in the service of France: Abdelqader Ben Ghabrit.

Release of the ''Qa'id'' of Casablanca

Torres negotiated the release and return of Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Zaid as-Slawi, ''qa'id'' of Casablanca at the time of the French Bombardment of Casablanca August 1907. as-Slawi had been taken to Algeria by force in the aftermath of the bombardment and invasion of Casablanca. Torres died in 1908, and was replaced by .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Muhammad Ambassadors of Morocco 1908 deaths 1820s births Moroccan politicians Foreign ministers of Morocco Moriscos