Morocco's King Hassan II, one of the world's longest-serving heads of state, was a master at holding on to power. In 1998, the monarch's throne was so secure that he was able to appoint his arch-rival, Abderrahman Youssoufi, as prime minister. In recent years, Hassan's grip on the levers of power was firm as ever.
Hassan gave his country a level of stability unique in North Africa, but that stability came at a price. In the 1970s and 1980s Hassan ruthlessly quashed popular uprisings and used repression to keep political opponents in check. Nonetheless, Hassan was not a brutal despot who held on to power by any means possible.
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Early on in his reign he allowed a multi-party system to develop. On one hand, this created an outlet for popular discontent. On another, it placed him in a situation where he had to play off the various parties against one another, in accordance with the principle of divide and rule.
"Morocco is like a lion, that has to be led on a fine leash," he once said trying to explain his success. As the country's religious leader, he was able to keep Islamic fundamentalism in check.
Hassan was born July 9, 1929, in Rabat, the eldest son of Mohammed Ben Yussuf V, the former sultan who later became king. He completed his law studies with a doctorate in 1951 before following his father into exile in 1953-1955 first to Corsica and later to Madagascar, when Morocco was a French-Spanish protectorate.
After independence in 1956, his father was proclaimed king. Hassan succeeded him on February 26 1961.
During his rule, Hassan found that leading a country was more than a one-man show, and that it required the support of the people. The king initiated a "silent revolution" gradually handing down more power to the parliament and the government.
In 1998, Morocco became the first country in the Arab world to experience a democratic handover of power. Still, the king remained the final arbiter on all important issues. His success was largely due in part to his ability to combine tradition and progress.
"I am a man of oriental culture, who wants to lead his country to modernity. But this should be a modernisation in which we don't lose our identity," Hassan once said.
In recent years, there had been much speculation concerning his health. Several years ago Hassan began passing more and more state duties to his eldest son, Sidi Mohammed. The crown prince will continue the rule of the royal family, which traces its roots back to the prophet Mohammed, in a more modern Morocco. - Sapa-DPA
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