He broke with the party in the mid-1950s, siding with armed revolutionaries and urban guerrillas who waged a violent campaign against French rule, whereas most of the nationalist mainstream preferred a diplomatic solution. In 1956, as Morocco gained independence, he reentered the party, and famously presented his case for reclaiming territories that have once been Moroccan in the newspaper al-Alam. In 1959, after the left-wing UNFP split off from Istiqlal, he became head of the party. In 1962, he briefly served as Morocco's Minister of Islamic Affairs. He was elected to the Parliament of Morocco in 1963, and served there as an Istiqlal deputy. He then went on to become a main leader within the opposition during the 1960s and the start of the 1970s, campaigning against King Hassan II's constitutional reforms that ended parliamentary government. He died of a heart attack on 13 May 1974, on a visit to Romania where he was scheduled to meet with Nicolae Ceaușescu. Literature In 1925 Al-Fassi published his first book of poems. In 1954 his The Independence Movements in Arab North Africa was published, a translation of a book he wrote in Arabic in 1948. Personal life Both of Allal al-Fassi's daughters were married to leading figures of Moroccan politics; ex-Prime Minister and longtime Istiqlal party Secretary General Abbas El Fassi, and Mohamed El Ouafa ex-Minister and vocal dissident figure within the party. See also Allal al Fassi Dam References External links World biography Biography of Mohammed Allal al-Fassi Encyclopedia.com Biography of Mohammed Allal al-Fassi See also Mohammed al-Mokhtar Soussi 1910 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Moroccan poets Istiqlal Party politicians National Union of Popular Forces politicians Government ministers of Morocco Members of the House of Representatives (Morocco) People from Fez, Morocco University of al-Qarawiyyin alumni Moroccan exiles Moroccan nationalists Moroccan Arab nationalists 20th-century poets Moroccan expatriates in Switzerland