Libya: King Idris, (12 March 1889 – 25 May 1983), first and only king of Libya (r. 1951-1969), and the Chief of the Senussi Muslim order. C. 1951. Idris as-Senussi, born Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi, proclaimed an independent Emirate of Cyrenaica in 1949. He was also invited to become Emir of Tripolitania, another of the three traditional regions that now comprise modern Libya, beginning the process of uniting Libya under a single monarchy. He became King of Libya in 1951, proclaiming its independence. He was deposed in a military coup in 1969 by Muammar al-Gaddafi.


Idris as-Senussi proclaimed an independent Emirate of Cyrenaica in 1949. He was also invited to become Emir of Tripolitania, another of the three traditional regions that now constitute modern Libya (the third being Fezzan). By accepting he began the process of uniting Libya under a single monarchy. A consitution was enacted in 1949 and adopted in October 1951. A National Congress elected Idris as King of Libya, and as Idris I he proclaimed the independence of the United Kingdom of Libya as a sovereign state on 24 December 1951. On 1 September 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed in a coup by a group of Libyan army officers under the leadership of Muammar al-Gaddafi. The monarchy was abolished and a republic proclaimed. Idris died at the Sultan Palace in Dokki, Cairo in 1983, aged 94. He was buried at Jannat al-Baqi, Medina, Saudi Arabia.


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