Moroccan dissident ‘shot by contract killers’

9 September 2004

MADRID – A Moroccan shot dead in southern Spain was a former member of the country’s Royal court who was preparing to reveal embarrassing secrets about the former King, it was reported Thursday.

Hicham Mandari, 33, was found shot dead in a garage between Mijas and Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol last month.

Spanish police have opened a murder inquiry but, as the British daily The Independent reports, the inquiry has become international with the secret services of four different countries involved.

Mandari was the victim of a contract killing after police sources revealed he had a “long list of enemies”.

He had already survived three assassination attempts – the last in Paris in April 2003.

Investigations have partially uncovered a tale of alleged currency forgery, blackmail and corruption surrounding the court of the late Moroccan king, Hassan II, where Mandari was once a trusted courtier.

Mandari was said to have stolen millions from the late king, before fleeing Morocco and threatening to reveal the secrets of the court.

The former “golden boy of the Moroccan jetset” was dismissed by the regime as a “fantasist”.

But Mandari had threatened to reveal stories of  palace dramas involving the king’s concubines and secret treachery which would shatter the modern image which the current  King Mohammed is trying to promote.

French, Moroccan, Bahreini and Saudi security services were said to have become involved in the investigation because of Mandari’s royal connections.

Mandari arrived in Marbella, in the Costa del Sol, in August and in his last interview before his murder, told the Moroccan weekly newspaper Le Journal, he would disclose embarrassing revelations which could damage Morocco.

Days later, he was shot dead.

[Copyright Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news