Idris of Libya

King of Libya

12 March 1889 Al-Jaghbub, Tripolitania Vilayet, Ottoman Empire

25 May 1983(1983-05-25) (94) Cairo, Egypt

NamesMuhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi

King of Libya King of Libya IdrisKing of LibyaReign24 December 1951 – 1 September 1969 Premiers See list Mahmud al-Muntasir Muhammad Sakizli Mustafa Ben Halim Abdul Majid Kubar Muhammad Osman Said Mohieddin Fikini Hussein Maziq Abdul Qadir al-Badri Abdul Hamid al-Bakkoush Wanis al-Qaddafi Born12 March 1889 Al-Jaghbub, Tripolitania Vilayet, Ottoman EmpireDied25 May 1983(1983-05-25) (aged 94) Cairo, EgyptBurialAl-Baqi' Cemetery, Medina, Saudi ArabiaSpouseFatimah el-Sharif ​(m. 1931)​HouseSenussiFatherMuhammad al-Mahdi as-SenussiMotherAisha bint Muqarrib al-BarasaReligionSunni Islam Idris (Arabic: إدريس الأول ‎; El Sayyid Prince Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi; 12 March 1889 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who served as the Emir of Cyrenaica and then as the King of United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1969. He was the chief of the Senussi Muslim order. Idris was born into the Senussi Order. When his cousin, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, abdicated as leader of the Order, Idris took his position. The Senussi campaign was taking place, with the British and Italians fighting the Order. Idris put an end to the hostilities and, through the Modus vivendi of Acroma, abandoned Ottoman protection. Between 1919 and 1920, Italy recognized Senussi control over most of Cyrenaica in exchange for the recognition of Italian sovereignty by Idris. Idris then led his Order in an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the eastern part of the Tripolitanian Republic. Following the Second World War, the United Nations General Assembly called for Libya to be granted independence. It established the United Kingdom of Libya through the unification of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan, appointing Idris to rule it as King. Wielding significant political influence in the impoverished country, he banned political parties and in 1963 replaced Libya's federal system with a unitary state. He established links to the Western powers, allowing the United Kingdom and United States to open military bases in the country in return for economic aid. After oil was discovered in Libya in 1959, he oversaw the emergence of a growing oil industry that rapidly aided economic growth. Idris' regime was weakened by growing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist sentiment in Libya as well as rising frustration at the country's high levels of corruption and close links with Western nations. While in Turkey for medical treatment, Idris was deposed in a 1969 coup d'état by army officers led by Muammar Gaddafi.