Raisuli, Ahmed ibn-Muhammed (c. 1867–1925)

Moroccan bandit. He gained notoriety c. 1903 for his policy of holding Europeans to ransom. Raisuli made himself master of the Tangier district, and in 1905 was appointed governor of the local peoples. He was deposed in December 1906. In June 1907 he captured Harry Maclean, who in February 1908 was ransomed by the British government for £20,000. In 1909 he was appointed governor of the northern peoples for a second time.

Raisuli was born in Tétouan, Morocco. Initially in favour of Spanish occupation, from 1911 he became a fierce opponent. He was actively pro-German during World War I, after which there were Spanish expeditions against him. He defeated one in 1919. Another, in 1921, was at the last moment called off, and peace was made. His fortress of Tazrut was attacked by Abd-el-Krim in 1925, and Raisuli was taken as a captive to Adjir, where he died.