By Mort Rosenblum
AP Special Correspondent
Saturday, July 24, 1999; 12:31 p.m. EDT

RABAT, Morocco –– Moroccans quietly mourned their king Saturday, standing silently outside the old walled palace where Hassan II reigned for two generations as spiritual leader, chief executive officer and godfather.

"He meant much more to me than a father," said M'hamed Ibourachen, a 35-year-old karate teacher, who peered through an ochre-hued arched gate and wept. "He did everything for Morocco."

When news came late Friday that Hassan's ailing heart had stopped, Ibourachen quickly boarded a bus in his village near Agadir and rode 500 miles through the night to join the vigil until burial after noon prayers on Sunday.

At the palace, the crowd of hundreds was relatively small but fervent. Stretcher bearers carried off a steady stream of women who fainted from emotion in the hot sun. "God is great," one woman in robe and turban chanted before collapsing on the street.

On a corner nearby, crowds clustered around newspapers displayed on the sidewalk. Circulation of Arabic and French-language dailies doubled, but copies were quickly gone.

"He gave us grandeur, made us into a modern civilization, respected in the world," said Mohammed Ghazi, a lawyer. His wife, Larachi, a teacher, dabbed at red, swollen eyes and nodded her agreement.

More discreetly, other Moroccans expressed harsher judgments of the king's grip on power, which remained firm to the end despite relaxing some since he suffered a pulmonary collapse in 1995 on a visit to the United States.

Although the king consistently denied it, Amnesty International and others described torture and mysterious disappearances in Moroccan prisons.

But few disputed Hassan's moderating impact on the complex diplomacy of his troubled part of the world.

Police began sealing the city for a parade of world figures expected to bring him honor, from President Clinton to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli President Ezer Weizman.

Hassan ascended the throne at the death of his father, Mohamed V, in 1961, and he joked to his friend King Juan Carlos of Spain that most people did not expect him to stay on it more than six months. He stayed for 38 years.

His durable reign, friends and foes agree, owes much to the king's "baraka," a mystical protective karma peculiar to some, thought to come from Allah.

In 1971, he miraculously survived an army mutiny that left hundreds dead. A year later, Moroccan Air Force rebels fired on the airliner bringing him home. Some newspapers reported his death until he emerged decidedly alive.

During the early 1980s, President Reagan revived an American friendship with Morocco dating back to George Washington. Hassan wanted help to put down Western Sahara guerrillas. Reagan wanted a Middle East staging base.

Soon after, Hassan mystified U.S. allies by announcing political alliance with his neighbor, Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

But such delicate balances were the dapper king's forte, allowing him to mediate disputes, offer asylum to fleeing dictators, and maintain useful friendships.

Morocco and Algeria have lived for years side by side in tense coexistence. But Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika messaged, "Hassan II was my friend and companion in arms," and he stressed Morocco's role in "a greater North Africa."

In Rabat's quiet streets, most shops were closed, and would remain so for a seven-day mourning period. Koranic verses and somber music filled the airwaves. Many people stayed home Saturday, expecting their new king, Hassan's 35-year-old son, to maintain his father's course.

Mohamed VI assumed the throne Saturday and by mid-afternoon had left his father's palace to mingle with the crowd. Though he is an unknown quantity politically, the new king seemed to have already won widespread acclaim Saturday as crowds shouted "Long Live The King!"

Mohammed and Larbi Amin, young brothers, laughed with friends outside a tiny grocery. But their mood grew somber when asked about the day's news.

"This touches us all," said Larbi, 16. "He was a good king. But still, it is God's will. Our lives will go on."