Muhammad Ibn 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Khattabi

Muhammad Ibn 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Khattabi

Abd el-Krim (1882-3, Ajdir, Morocco – February 6, 1963, Cairo) (full name: Muhemmed ben 'Abd el-Krim el-Khattabi, Arabic: محمد بن عبد الكريم الخطابي‎, Berber name: Muḥend n Ɛebd Krim Elxeṭṭabi or Muřay Muḥend) was a Berber political and military leader. Together with his brother Mhemmed, he led a large-scale revolt by a broad military coalition of major Rifian tribes against French and Spanish colonial occupation of the Rif and Morocco in general. The Rif is a large Berber-speaking area in northern Morocco, and had a long history of military conflicts with Spain.

Abd el-Krim's military campaign against the Spanish invasion resulted by 1921 in the complete defeat of the Spanish army and in the establishment of the shortlived Berber Republic of the Rif between 1921 and 1926. His guerrilla tactics are known to have influenced Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara.