Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi

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Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi (1928-1992), was Crown Prince (1956-1969) and (very briefly) King of Libya (1969).

Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi was born in 1928 and was nominated Crown Prince by his uncle King Idris I in 1956.

The events of September, 1969, proved to be pivotal both for Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida and for Libya. As Crown Prince, Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida was first in line of succession to the Libya throne. The ailing Idris presented a signed document on 4th August, 1969 to the President of the Libyan Senate, whereby Idris was to abdicate in favour of the Crown Prince. The instrument of abdication specified 5th September, the date when the King undertook formally to stand down. Indeed, the Crown Prince was already exercising regal powers in the name of King Idris, in the run up to 5th September. However, on 1st September, while Idris was out of the country undergoing medical treatment, a group of Libyan army officers, among them Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi (1942-), staged a rebellion and announced that King Idris I was deposed. Since King Idris I was unable to complete the term of his reign as envisaged by his instrument of abdication, and since his deposing was unconstitutional, Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida, in his capacity of Crown Prince to the deposed Idris, technically became King of Libya on 1st September, 1969.

However, in the course of 1st September, it became clear that the revolutionary officers who had announced the deposing of Idris did not countenance any kind of rapprochement with Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida, whose authority over the instruments of state as King proved to be far less than that which he had been exercising as Crown Prince on Idris's behalf. Before the end of 1st September, Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida, also, had been formally deposed by the revolutionary army officers. His briefest of reigns did not leave any lasting imprint on the country.

His greater legacy, however, was in his role of Crown Prince, exercised between 1956 and 1969, towards the end of which he was the de facto ruler of Libya. As Crown Prince, he repeatedly undertook official trips abroad, notably to negotiate the purchase of U.S.-built jet fighters from the Kennedy Administration for the Libyan Air Force.

Subsequent to Qaddafi's takeover in 1969, Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida lived in detention in Libya until 1988, when Colonel Qaddafi permitted him to travel to London, where he died in 1992.

Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida was buried in Medina, Saudi Arabia, near to the grave of his uncle, King Idris I (died 1983).

Upon his death in 1992 his son Sayyid Muhammad bin Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi (Born 1962) succeeded him as head of the Royal House of Libya.

Senussi Born: 1928; Died: 1992
Preceded by Idris I	King of Libya 1969	Monarchy abolished
Religious Posts
Preceded by Idris I	Chief of the Senussi order 1969-1992	Succeeded by Sayyid Muhammad
Titles in pretence
New Title Monarchy abolished	* NOT REIGNING * King of Libya (1969-1992)	Succeeded by Sayyid Muhammad