Former Moroccan intelligence agent: Al Mandari was a womanizer and that was his weak point

The former Moroccan diplomat and intelligence agent Moussadek Mimoune relates the story of his encounter with the opponent Hichem El Mendari and his assassination.

•  Echourouk: What can you say about the killing of the Moroccan opponent Hichem ?

• Mimoune: Hichem El Mendari was an illiterate but very smart, we used to meet together on regular basis in Paris. His mother Mrs Shehrazad Fechtali was married to a rich employee working in luxurious hotels in the Gulf countries who had several criminal records in Morocco   

• Echourouk: How did you meet him first?

• Mimoune: I was living at then in Dijon, France; one day I received a telephone call from Rabat, the number was from the management of the territory surveillance ( DST) I know it by heart because I dealt with it in my previous missions.

• Echourouk: What was the mission?

• Mimoune: I was assigned the task to get close to El Mandari and infiltrate his circle because he was becoming a threat for the kingdom as they put it. Of course I accepted the mission for the love of my country and its king, the contact was very happy because he expected a negative answer from me on account of my previous professional troubles with some intelligence and diplomatic agents based here in Paris.

• Echourouk: When did you meet him first?

• Mimoune: At this time I wasn’t aware of his nefarious activities in Paris but I  March 2003 I decided to move to Paris for his encounter but I contacted one of his friends who was dealing with him, as he told me, as part of their business activities. He forwarded me one of his cell numbers.

• Echourouk: What happened next?

• Mimoune: though he didn’t contact me as he promised, I pursued my mission because I understood that the matter required negotiations at high level. I seized this opportunity to get in touch with his PR called Ouamoussi Mohammed. He informed me that El Mandari has filed a suit against the general Al Enikri and sought asylum in France but he was denied the request at that time.

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• Echourouk:That was risky, haven’t you feared that Ouamassi informs El Mandari about the content of your conversation?

• Mimoune: My humble experience as an intelligence agent, enabled me to understand that the man was not pretending and was compelled to fork for Al Mandari because he was going through hard times.

• Echourouk:What was his reaction?

• Mimoune: As I expected, the man stood up and hugged me with crying eyes and launched “give me a peace pf advise brother”, but threatened him against any attempt to repeat the content f our conversation because that would be his end. He replied that his sole unique reason for living was his family and daughter; he took my phone number to keep in touch.

• Echourouk:What has Ouamoussi revealed to you ?

• Mimoune: He informed that during a visit to London and Belgium, Al Mandari has recruited some Moroccan refugees including military officers, Ouamassi told me that Al Mandari was in close contact with an arms dealer in Belgium and was intending to recruit guerrillas in a the Northern parts of Morocco.