A former aide to the Moroccan royal family who had been in a long-running feud with King Mohammed VI has been shot dead in Spain, possibly the victim of a professional hit. When you care enough to hire the very best... | Spanish police announced at the weekend that the body of a man discovered in a private car park between Fuengirola and Mijas on the Costa del Sol was that of Hicham Mandari. He had been shot in the head. Mandari's death will not be much mourned in Rabat. He was considered a fraudster and a fantasist but was also close to the previous king, Hassan II, and there will be concern at what information any Spanish police investigation may uncover. In 1999, Mandari left Morocco after allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the royal family as King Hassan II lay dying. He then took out an advert in the Washington Post to warn the king: "For my defence, and the defence of those close to me, I have prepared a dossier of information which would be damaging to your reputation around the world." The old "If I'm killed, the dossier will be released" ploy. That worked well, didn't it? | Since then Mandari had faced a string of fraud-related accusations but consistently managed to avoid conviction. In his last interview, Mandari again threatened the Moroccan royal family with damaging disclosures. He also claimed to be the illegitimate son of the current king's father and a palace aide, Farida Cherkaoui. Farida, a sultry wench concubine aide, a comfort to the ailing king. | It is thought that Ms Cherkaoui facilitated Mandari's entry into palace circles and when it became clear that the king was dying, he conspired to make as much as he could while his influence remained. He found not just cash, but, he claimed, personal material that would have embarrassed the royal family. After the succession of King Hassan's son, Mohammed VI, rumours of Mandari's dossier surfaced regularly. Perhaps Mohammed got tired of being threatened, or he found out who was holding the dossier and made him a offer. | In 2003, while possessing a handgun after two attempts on his life, he was arrested for attempting to blackmail Othman Benjelloun, the president of the Moroccan Bank of Foreign Commerce. He was released last July and gave his last interview to the Journal. Again he threatened the Moroccan king with damaging disclosures. And he talked of further scandal in France. "I know all the French ministers," he said. "I know Chirac very well. I called [the interior minister] Dominique de Villepin, but he had been told not to talk to me. I know lots of things about other politicians too." Perhaps you should have kept your mouth shut about that. |
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