of Morocco in the 1980s and 1990s. He was accused of creating "administrative" parties to counter the traditional nationalist and popular parties, and of rigging elections in favour of loyalists. Under his term some demonstrations were harshly repressed by police, such as in 1981 in Casablanca and 1990 in Fes. Exile and death Three months after King Mohammed VI acceded to the throne in 1999, succeeding Hassan II, Basri was at last discharged from his ministerial functions on 9 November 1999. He went to live in Paris. In March 2004, his Moroccan passport was withdrawn, leading Basri to become, in effect, an illegal alien in France. However, he still travelled internationally, and was not disturbed by the French police. Basri reportedly had an animosity with Fouad Ali El Himma, the close influential friend of Mohammed VI (then crown prince). They had conflictual relations during the time in which El Himma worked at the ministry of the Interior. Basri was heard by the judge Patrick Ramaël in May 2006, as a witness, concerning Mehdi Ben Barka's kidnapping. Basri declared to the magistrate that he had not been linked to the Ben Barka Affair. He added that "it is possible that the King knew. It is legitimate to think that de Gaulle possessed some information…" Driss Basri died in Paris on 27 August 2007. He was buried in Rabat on 29 August; The Interior Minister in 2007 Chakib Benmoussa was the only representative of the government at the funeral. See also Chakib Benmoussa Khelli Henna Ould Rachid History of Morocco References 1938 births 2007 deaths Directors of intelligence agencies Government ministers of Morocco Moroccan exiles Deaths from cancer in France People from Settat Grenoble Alpes University alumni Moroccan police officers People of Moroccan intelligence agencies Moroccan expatriates in France