Idris as-Senussi proclaimed an independent Emirate of Cyrenaica in 1949. He was also invited to become Emir of Tripolitania; another of the three traditional regions that now constitute modern Libya (the third being Fezzan). By accepting he began the process of uniting Libya under a single monarchy.

A consitution was enacted in 1949 and adopted in October 1951. A National Congress elected Idris as King of Libya; and as Idris I he proclaimed the independence of the United Kingdom of Libya as a sovereign state on 24 December 1951. On 1 September 1969; while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment; he was deposed in a coup by a group of Libyan army officers under the leadership of Muammar al-Gaddafi.

The monarchy was abolished and a republic proclaimed. Idris died at the Sultan Palace in Dokki; Cairo in 1983; aged 94. He was buried at Jannat al-Baqi; Medina; Saudi Arabia. Pictures From History Pictures From History