Mohammed, King of Libya
| Mohammed | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Libya | |
| Reign | 22 April 1992 - present |
| Predecessor | Hasan |
| Heir apparent | Hussein, Crown Prince of Libya |
| Born | Mohammed El Senussi 20 October 1962 Tripoli, Libya |
| Spouse | Princess Haya bint Hussein (m. 2001) |
| Issue | |
| House | Senussi |
| Father | Hasan |
| Mother | Fawzia bint Tahir |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Mohammed (born 20 October 1962) is King of Libya. The only son of King Hasan, Mohammed was born during the reign of his grandfather King Idris whose decades-long reign oversaw the transformation of Libya from an impoverished former Italian colony to one of the most prosperous and wealthy countries in Africa. In 1983, following the death of his grandfather and the subsequent ascension of his father to the throne, Hasan, despite being the second-born child, was appointed crown prince and therefore the heir to the Libyan throne. A royal of Oxford graduate, in the years leading up to his eventual kingship, Mohammed often served as his country's ambassador abroad and was known to have traveled extensively around the world, forging close friendships with world leaders of both the East and West. Most notably, just before ascending to the throne, Mohammed gained recognition as the leading Libyan diplomat during the negotiations that ended the Gulf War between Iraq and a US-led coalition including Libya itself.
In 1992, following the death of his father, Mohammed ascended to the throne at the age of thirty, becoming Libya's third and youngest-ever monarch. A proponent of Islamic modernism and religious pluralism, Mohammed has been a vocal advocate for the country's further economic and social growth with landmark achievements such as the granting of equal voting rights to women, the abolition of child marriages, along with the country's inclusion in the G20 organisation as one of only two African member states alongside South Africa. In 2007, despite the onset of the Great Recession, Libya, along with several other countries, otherwise recorded consistent growth in its economy and was also one of the few that avoided major political turmoil during the onset of the Arab Spring during which the King endorsed demands of political, economic, and social reforms from protesters, thereby avoiding a popular revolution similar to those in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia. In addition, Mohammed is also a vocal figure on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, being an advocate of a two-state solution.
In 2001, Mohammed married Princess Haya bint Hussein, daughter of Jordan's King Hussein, thereby making him the brother-in-law of Jordan's reigning King Abdullah II. Together, the couple has four children, with the eldest Hussein having married Princess Iman bint Abdullah, daughter of King Abdullah II and younger sister of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan.