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Idris
King of Libya
Reign	24 December 1951 – 1 September 1969 (&0000000000000017.00000017 years, &0000000000000251.000000251 days)
Spouse	Fatima el-Sharif
Father	Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Senussi
Mother	Aisha bint Ahmad al-Syrte
Born	12 March 1890 Al-Jaghbub, Libya
Died	25 May 1983 (aged 94) Cairo, Egypt
Burial	Jannat al-Baqi, Medina, Saudi Arabia

Idris, GBE (Arabic: إدريس الأول‎) born Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Senussi (12 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was the first and only King of Libya, reigning from 1951 to 1969, and the Chief of the Senussi Muslim order.

Early life

He was born at Al-Jaghbub, the headquarters of the Senussi movement, the son of Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Senussi and his fifth wife Aisha bint Ahmad al-Syrte. Idris was a grandson of Sayyid Muhammad bin 'Ali as-Senussi, the founder of the Senussi Muslim sufi order. He became Chief of the Senussi order in 1916 following the abdication of his cousin Sayyid Ahmed Sharif es Senussi. He was recognized by the British under the new title Emir of the territory of Cyrenaica, a position also confirmed by the Italians in 1920.

Idris spent the early part of his career attempting to negotiate independence for Cyrenaica.^[1] In 1922, following the Italian military campaigns against Libya, he went into exile. Egypt then served as his base in a guerrilla war against the colonial Italian authorities.^[2]

World War II

During World War II, Idris supported the United Kingdom and brought the Cyrenaican nationalists to fight alongside the Allies against the Axis. With the defeat of the German and Italian forces led by Erwin Rommel, he was finally able to return to his capital, Benghazi and form an official government.

Libyan independence

He was also invited to become Emir of Tripolitania, another of the three traditional regions that now constitute modern Libya (the third is Fezzan).^[3] By accepting he began the process of uniting Libya under a single monarchy. From Benghazi, Idris led the team negotiating with the United Kingdom and the United Nations over independence, which was achieved on 24 December 1951. Idris was proclaimed the King of Libya.^{[citation needed]}

To the chagrin of Arab nationalists at home and supporters of Pan-Arabism in neighbouring states, Idris maintained close ties with the United Kingdom and the United States, even after the former intervened against Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis.^{[citation needed]} Another threat to his regime was his failure to produce a male heir to succeed him to the throne. The economy prospered from its oil fields and the presence of the American Air Force's Wheelus Air Base near Tripoli, but the king's health began to falter.^{[citation needed]}

King Idris I on the cover of the Libyan Al Iza'a magazine, August 15, 1965

Overthrow and exile

On 1 September 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed by the Libyan army under the leadership of Muammar al-Gaddafi in a coup.^[4] The coup pre-empted Idris' instrument of abdication, dated 4 August 1969, to take effect on 2 September 1969, in favor of his nephew, Crown Prince Hasan as-Senussi.

After the coup of 1969, Idris was placed on trial in absentia in the "Libyan People's Court" and sentenced to death in November 1971.

He left to Kamena Vourla, Greece, by ship and went into exile in Egypt, where he died in Cairo in 1983, aged 94. He was buried in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

See also

• Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi
• Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi
• Queen Fatima

References

Heads of state of Libya Idris I · Muammar al-Gaddafi · Abdul Ati al-Obeidi · Muhammad az-Zaruq Rajab · Mifta al-Usta Umar · Abdul Razzaq as-Sawsa · Muhammad al-Zanati · Miftah Muhammed K'eba · Imbarek Shamekh · Mohamed Abdul Quasim al-Zwai