Abd-el-Krim

Abd-el-Krim (c. 1880-1963), leader of the Riffians, a Berber people of Morocco. In 1921 he led his people against a Spanish military post in the mountain range of Er Rif, Morocco, capturing it and massacring 16,000 soldiers. In 1924 the Spanish were forced to retreat to their holdings along the coast of Morocco. Meanwhile, France laid claim to territory in southern Er Rif. The following year a French force under Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain and a Spanish army began operations against the Riffians. Hard fighting continued for a year, but finally the combined armies defeated the forces of Abd-el-Krim. He was exiled to the French island of Réunion from 1926 to 1947, when he was granted permission to live in southern France. He left the ship carrying him to France and, accepting an offer of protection from the king of Egypt, became a resident of that country. After 1948 he was a leader of the North African nationalist opposition to European rule.