Coup Atlas Research Database
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60007201963ConspiracyDissident coup

Morocco, 1963 — dissident coup conspiracy

Morocco (MAR)North Africa, AfricaJuly 20, 1963

Event Summary

This entry is coded 20 July 1963, corresponding to an attempted coup and crackdown against King Hassan II of Morocco. The July 1963 plot, less remembered than the palace coup attempts of 1971 and 1972, was masterminded in part by Fqih Basri, a former Moroccan Liberation Army leader and co-founder of the leftist opposition party UNFP, who relied on Colonel Medbouh, later a leader of the 1971 attempt, for intelligence on the palace layout. The alleged conspiracy came as Hassan II was consolidating power against the political opposition, and the discovery triggered a wave of arrests of UNFP figures and a major repression of the party.

The affair was one of several early challenges to the young monarch's rule; Hassan II would survive further, more dramatic coup attempts at Skhirat in July 1971 and against his aircraft in August 1972 before dying of natural causes decades later.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Hassan II survived the plot and used it to crack down on the UNFP opposition; he later survived the 1971 and 1972 coup attempts
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
King Hassan II (monarch, target)
Fqih Basri (UNFP co-founder and plot mastermind)
Colonel Medbouh (provided palace intelligence, later a 1971 coup leader)

Sources

One of the masterminds behind the July 1963 attempted coup was Fqih Basri, former Moroccan Liberation Army leader and co-founder of the UNFP.
SOURCE REVIEWED Jadaliyya: The Moroccan Non-Exception (Part II) open source ↗
Basri relied on Colonel Medbouh, who would later be one of the leaders of the July 1971 coup attempt, for intelligence on the palace's architectural plan.
SOURCE REVIEWED Jadaliyya: The Moroccan Non-Exception (Part II) open source ↗
The July 1971 Skhirat attempt is often called the first military coup under Hassan II, but there was an earlier attempted coup in July 1963.
SOURCE REVIEWED Jadaliyya: The Moroccan Non-Exception (Part II) open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 20 Jul 1963 aligns with the July 1963 plot masterminded by Fqih Basri and the accompanying crackdown on the UNFP. Verified as a discrete attempt, though the plot is far less documented than Hassan II's 1971 and 1972 coup attempts.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
60007201963

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Hassan II survived the plot and used it to crack down on the UNFP opposition; he later survived the 1971 and 1972 coup attempts.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Christian Science Monitor

“Morocco Says Plot Smashed: Contact Reported,” August 17, 1963

New York Times

“MOROCCO DETAILS CHARGES OF PLOT: Regime Says Leftists Sought Arms From U.S. Base,” August 16, 1963

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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