Abdelaziz Bennani

General Abdelaziz Bennani ( – b. 28 September 1935, Taza, d. 20 May 2015, Rabat) was a senior Moroccan Army officer who was, between 27 July 2004 and 13 June 2014, "General Inspector of the Armed Forces", the professional head of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, succeeding General Abdelhaq Kadiri. He was the commander of the Southern Zone since the death of General Ahmed Dlimi.

On 13 June 2014 and after reports which stated that he was in poor health and following treatment in France, Bennani was replaced, as the Inspector General of the Moroccan army and commander of the southern zone, by general Bouchaib Arroub.

Early life Like other high-ranking officials of the Moroccan military, few personal details about Bennani are known. He was part of a class of military conscripts (The Promotion Mohammed V) who in 1957, followed six-months training in the French military school Saint Cyr, under the supervision of then Crown Prince Hassan, after which they received the officer rank.

Corruption allegations

The Moroccan military is plagued by corruption. A leaked U.S diplomatic cable from 2008, cited that it is particularly prevalent amongst the highest ranks.

Hospital incident On 18 June 2014, Mustapha Adib a former captain in the Moroccan army who was imprisoned in 2000 for denouncing corruption in his military base of Errachidia and was forced to exile afterwards, visited the Val-de-Grâce, the hospital where Bennani was following treatment in France. He tried to visit the general but was not authorised to access the room, after which he left him a bouquet of cheap flowers and a message, in which he accused Bennani of being a criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, the impoverishment of thousands of deceased soldiers children and a corrupt who stole state's assets.

The Moroccan ambassador in Paris and former minister of the Interior, Chakib Benmoussa tried to meet the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius to express "dissatisfaction" over the incident, but was only received by his chief of cabinet.