The all-powerful monarch, who had been an important unifying force in his North African nation, was 70. In a statement Friday, the Royal Palace medical staff announced that the king had been admitted to Avicennes Hospital with "acute pneumonia, which requires a cardiac and respiratory surveillance." State-run television later interrupted programming, without explanation, to read verses from the Koran. Hassan's heir is Crown Prince Sidi Mohammed, 35. Hassan, the longest serving monarch in the Arab world, ascended to the throne in 1961. He once told his friend, Spanish King Juan Carlos, that many people thought he wouldn't last six months. But Hassan ruled for more than 38 years, surviving military coups, leftist plots and Islamic-based opposition. His personal popularity among Morocco's 29 million people was acknowledged even by political foes, who called him "the great survivor." "Moroccans need a popular monarch that governs," Hassan wrote in his book, "The Challenge." "That is why the king governs in Morocco. The people would not understand if the king did not govern." Hassan's prestige as a descendant of the prophet Mohammed helped contain the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. But in the wake of coup attempts in the 1970s, opponents accused the king of human rights abuses, including harsh treatment of those who opposed him. In the early 1990s, Hassan ordered the release of more than 800 political opponents and commuted 195 death sentences, which helped improve his relations with the United States and Europe. The country's 1992 constitution made respect for human rights part of official dogma. Hassan was also a discreet but key mediator in the Middle East peace process, whose contacts with Israeli leaders helped lead to the 1978 peace accord between Egypt and Israel. He also sent troops to battle Iraq during the Persian Gulf War, angering some domestic opponents who backed Iraq in its standoff with the West. 
King Hassan II has been on the throne since 1962, when he succeeded his late father, Sultan Mohammed V. Part of his legitimacy is rooted in his family (The Alaouis) historical relationship to the Prophet Mohammed. Hassan is a direct descendant of the Prophet's son in law, Ali Ibn Abi Talib. King HassanII is considered head of the faith, Islamic "commander of the faithful," in Morocco. The Alaouis, known for their piety and scholarship, were invited to settle in Morocco in the 1200s A.D., and rose to power in their native oasis district in southeast Morocco, The Tafilalt, in the early 1600s. Hassan is not only a skillful actor in domestic politics and society but is a powerful, behind-the-scenes politician on the world stage.
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