RABAT: The Moroccan Cabinet continued debate in an extraordinary session today [Aug 17] after the abortive assassination attempt on King Hasan II and amidst conflicting reports that the Defence Minister, Mohammed Oufkir, had either committed suicide or was killed because of his involvement in the abortive coup attempt. Forty-eight-year-old Mohammed Oufkir ... for long a prominent and controversial figure ... killed himself just after midnight, according to an official announcement... .

But there was no immediate answer to the mystery as to why he should take his own life. But diplomatic sources ... said that Oufkir did not commit suicide but was killed because he took part in the plot against King Hasan.

[Meanwhile, as reported by the staff correspondent in Lahore,] Agha Shorish Kashmiri, Editor, weekly “Chattan”, was arrested here today [Aug 17] under the Defence of Pakistan Rules. Arrested under orders of the Central Government, he has been ordered to be detained for three months. Agha Shorish was taken into custody .... from the Lahore airport as he was about to board a plane for Multan where he was scheduled to address a public meeting tonight.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2022