"The mystery of Morocco’s missing king"

From The Economist's 1843 Magazine, April 14:

In 2018 a German kickboxer befriended Mohammed VI. The monarch has rarely been seen since

Five years ago, an unusual image appeared on Instagram. It showed Mohammed VI, the 54-year-old king of Morocco, sitting on a sofa next to a muscular man in sportswear. The two men were pressed up next to each other with matching grins like a pair of kids at summer camp. Moroccans were more accustomed to seeing their king alone on a gilded throne.

The story behind the picture was even stranger. Abu Azaitar, the 32-year-old man sitting next to the king, is a veteran of the German prison system as well as a mixed-martial-arts (MMA) champion. Since he moved to Morocco in 2018 his bling-filled Instagram feed has caused the country’s conservative elite to shudder. It’s not just the flashy cars, it’s the strikingly informal tone in which he addresses the monarch: “Our dear King,” he wrote next to one photo of the two of them together. “I can’t thank him enough for everything he has done for us.”

A crisis is brewing in Morocco, and the beaming kickboxer is at the heart of it. The country is regarded as one of the Arab world’s success stories. It has a thriving car industry and its medieval souks and tranquil riads beguile Western tourists. Morocco seems to have all the charm of the Middle East and none of its turmoil.

One former official estimates that the king was out of the country for 200 days last year

But Morocco’s 37m people face the same problems that have roiled so much of the Arab world over the past decade: insufficient jobs, soaring inflation and oppressive security services. This has not, so far, resulted in serious upheaval, in part because of the king’s prompt introduction of constitutional reforms at the height of the Arab spring in 2011. But now turmoil is on the horizon, and the king, insiders say, is hardly to be seen. For the past four years Azaitar and his two brothers have monopolised the monarch’s attention. A court insider says that advisers have tried to reduce the Azaitars’ influence, but to no avail. Some officials even appear to have colluded in the publication of articles exposing Azaitar’s criminal past and alleged extravagance. The king seems impervious.

Mohammed is not just distracted – he is often entirely absent. He liked to travel and take holidays before he met the Azaitars but the tendency appears to have become much more pronounced. Sometimes he cloisters himself with the brothers in a private ranch in the Moroccan countryside. Sometimes the group escapes to a hideaway in west Africa. When Gabon palls – “so boring, there’s a beach but nothing else to do,” moans one member of the entourage – they descend on Paris. One former official estimates that the king was out of the country for 200 days last year. “We’re a plane without a pilot,” frets an official

Mohammed first appeared in public with the Azaitars on April 20th 2018, at an event to celebrate their achievements in MMA. In photos released to the press, the king and the three brothers stand together holding an MMA championship belt.

As their friendship deepened, Azaitar began to post photographs of himself with the king. He and his brothers joined the king’s itinerant household – as his “personal trainers”, officials were reportedly told – and brought their family and friends with them. In some ways, the friendship has been salutary. The king, who was somewhat overweight at the time he met the brothers, has suffered from asthma and pulmonary complaints. The cage fighters installed a gym in the palace and he started to work out. His face began to lose its puffiness, and he looked increasingly relaxed, almost fit. 

The king for his part has showered the brothers with largesse. When their mother died he allowed them to bury her in the grounds of his palace in Tangiers. The brothers acquired valuable beach-front real estate and flaunted their lifestyle on social media. “They use military jets, they have carte blanche to function in the palace as they want, they can go to the garage and pick up the cars they want,” says a royal insider. “It’s so bizarre.” (1843 magazine put the allegations in this piece to both the Azaitars and the Moroccan government, but received no response.)

As the brothers thrived, court officials grew ashen-faced. In theory Morocco has a constitutional monarchy. In reality Mohammed is far more than a figurehead. He has the final say on every matter of importance, and without him, the country’s political factions tend to descend into impotent bickering. The Middle East is littered with the wrecks of regimes that have failed to act decisively in moments of crisis. “We’re a plane without a pilot,” frets a former official.

Mohammed is the most publicity-shy of Middle Eastern leaders. Since becoming king in 1999 he has never hosted a press conference or given a television interview. He shuns international summits. When he has to give a public address on Throne Day, an annual event commemorating his succession, he fumbles his words. His demeanour, down to the T-shirts and trainers he wears, suggests a desire to be something other than a ruler (though he seems happy enough to enjoy the financial privileges it brings). “He’s not interested in power. All he wants to lead is his life,” says a courtier.

Some academics believe that the institution of monarchy helped Morocco avoid the revolutions that swept the Arab world in 2011....

....MUCH MORE

Re: the Arab Spring, the fact that Morocco wasn't targeted by Madame Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her boss President Obama, Susan Rice (who is worth keeping an eye on since she left the O'Biden-Harris administration) and President Obama's senior advisor and assistant to the president for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs, Valerie Jarrett.

If Morocco had been on the hit list like Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria it is doubtful that 1843 would have had this excellent story to put together.