Failed Assassination Attempt on Morocco’s King Hassan II Marks 50th Anniversary

It was in 1972. King Hassan II was on board his Boeing 727 returning from France when three Northrop F-5A combat aircraft from the Moroccan air force approached and began firing on the royal plane, damaging two of the three engines of the aircraft and killing or injuring several passengers, recalls Moncloa, specifying that the Boeing managed to land at Rabat airport. The F-5A fighters returned to the Kenitra air base after the failed attack.

The putschists had the information that the king’s plane had just landed safely. This is how, according to the official version, Hassan II had the idea of the radio message that said: "Cease-fire! The tyrant is dead, we are innocent." The monarch then slipped into a Peugeot utility vehicle to take refuge at the French embassy, aware that other F-5A fighter jets could also attack the VIP lounge at Rabat airport or the main palace in Rabat.

Some of the conspirators, seeing their plan fail, tried to flee to Gibraltar aboard an AB-205 helicopter, but they were quickly arrested along with other involved commanders, then tortured and shot in front of Moroccan television cameras. As for the main instigator, General Oukfir, he committed suicide, according to the official version. But all indications are that he was shot dead on August 16 by King Hassan II himself, according to some sources.