French hijacking of the FLN plane
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (February 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
- Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
- Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
- You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is
Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Détournement de l'avion du FLN]]; see its history for attribution. - You may also add the template
{{Translated|fr|Détournement de l'avion du FLN}}to the talk page. - For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
 | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | 22 October 1956 (1956-10-22) |
| Summary | Hijacking by the French Armed Forces; flight redirected from Tunis to Algiers |
| Site | Mediterranean Sea |
| Total fatalities | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-3 |
| Operator | Royal Air Maroc |
| Flight origin | Rabat, Morocco |
| Destination | Tunis, Tunisia |
On 22 October 1956, French forces hijacked a Moroccan civilian aircraft carrying leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) during the ongoing Algerian War.[1][2][3][4] The Douglas DC-3 belonging to Royal Air Maroc was carrying Ahmed Ben Bella, Hocine Aït Ahmed, Mohamed Boudiaf, Mostefa Lacheraf [ar], and Mohamed Khider.[3][4] It was destined to leave from Palma de Mallorca for Tunis where the FLN leaders were to conference with Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba, but French forces intercepted the civilian aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea and redirected the flight to occupied Algiers, where the FLN leaders were arrested, derailing the planned conference in Tunis.[1][2][5] It's considered one of the most important events in the Algerian War.[6]
Context
The French protectorate over Morocco had ended months before, and King Muhammad V supported the FLN in the struggle for Algerian independence.[2]
Details
On 21 October 1956, King Muhammad V of Morocco received a delegation of leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front—Ahmed Ben Bella, Hocine Aït Ahmed, Mohamed Boudiaf, Mostefa Lacheraf [ar], and Mohamed Khider—in Rabat.[1] France disapproved of the meeting and Alain Savary, French Secretary of State for Tunisian and Moroccan Affairs under Guy Mollet, announced the suspension of aid to Morocco.[1]
22 October at midday, with fake documents, the FLN delegation left Rabat for Tunis by way of Palma in Spain in order to avoid flying over Algeria to circumvent France.[1] The Douglas DC-3 registered "F. OABV" belonged to Royal Air Maroc, an airline owned by the Moroccan state.[2][7] After departing Palma, French forces over the Mediterranean redirected the Moroccan aircraft, ordering the French pilot to land it in Algiers where the FLN delegation was arrested.[1]
Max Lejeune [fr], Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, and Henri Lorillot [fr] and other French generals in Algiers were responsible for the operation, without interference from Robert Lacoste, French resident minister and governor general of Algiers at the time.[1]
The hijacking and arrest of the FLN leadership derailed the planned conference in Tunis, to have been attended by the FLN delegation as well as Habib Bourguiba and Muhammad V, with the goal of establishing a North African Federation to promote the independence of Algeria and end the French-Algerian war.[1]
Aftermath
King Muhammad V of Morocco was distraught and "feared for his own life."[8]
Anti-French riots broke out targeting French people in and around Meknes, with dozens of casualties.[3][6]
Legacy
Maati Monjib mentioned historians discussing the event as the first instance of a passenger aircraft hijacking in history,[3] but it is not the case.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Essemlali, Mounya (2011). "Le Maroc entre la France et l'Algérie (1956-1962)". Relations Internationales. n° 146 (2): 77–93. doi:10.3917/ri.146.0077. ISSN 0335-2013.
{{cite journal}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d "22 October 1956 : Ben Bella, King Mohammed V and the story of the re-routed plane". en.yabiladi.com. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ a b c d Essa (2020-10-22). "أكتوبر في تاريخ المغرب أحداث وأهوال | المعطي منجب". القدس العربي (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ a b "Alger 1956 : la France donne l'exemple du détournement d'avion". France Inter (in French). 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ Leprince, Chloé (25 May 2021). "Détournement d'avion : quand l'armée française jouait les pirates de l'air" [Plane hijacking: when the French army played the air pirates]. Radio France.
- ^ a b Largeaud, Jean-Marc (2016-07-28). "Violences urbaines, Maroc 1956". Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'Ouest (123–2): 107–129. doi:10.4000/abpo.3306. ISSN 0399-0826.
- ^ "L'affaire du F. OABV (Maroc c. France)". Annuaire Français de Droit International. 4 (1): 282–295. 1958. doi:10.3406/afdi.1958.1382.
- ^ Buttin, Maurice (2015). Ben Barka, Hassan II, De Gaulle : ce que je sais d'eux. Karthala. ISBN 978-2-8111-1499-2. OCLC 930600058.
- v
- t
- e
Algerian War (1954–1962)
| Settler colonialism |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Other factors |
|
| Chronology [fr] of key events |
|
|---|---|
| War crimes / human rights violations | |
| Reactions |
|
aftermath
- May 1958 crisis
- Year of Africa
- Aftermath in Algeria
- Effects in Algerian politics
- Films
| Monuments and commemorations |
|
|---|
| Pro-independence |
|
|---|---|
| Anti-independence | |
| Other groups |
Category / 
Commons
