Idris I (1890-1983), first and only king of modern Libya (1951-1969). Sayid Idris al-Sanusi was born in Al Jaghbūb, the grandson of the founder of the Sanusi Islamic brotherhood. Idris succeeded to the leadership of the powerful brotherhood in 1916, making him the most influential figure of Cyrenaica, a region that is now part of northeastern Libya. In the next years, he led the struggle against Italian colonization of Cyrenaica. In 1922, facing a powerful Italian invasion, Idris went into exile in Egypt for two decades. After World War II (1939-1945), while the United Nations debated the future of North Africa following Italy's defeat and withdrawal, Idris solidified his political base, eventually declaring Cyrenaica an independent state under his leadership in 1949. In December 1951 the regions of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan united to form the independent federal monarchy of Libya, and Idris became king. Considerable powers over the parliament and the army were placed in the monarch's hands under the constitution. One of the major challenges Idris faced was making the people of the ethnically, historically, and geographically distinct regions feel unified as one nation. In 1963 Idris supported a revision to the constitution that dismantled the federal system and created a unitary state, but he was never successful in promoting a sense of Libyan nationalism. Idris's sympathies were decidedly pro-Western, and he played a minor role in Arab politics. His inaction during the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and Arab nations was unpopular among pro-Arab Libyan workers and students. Increasingly alienated from many of his people, Idris I was overthrown by an army coup led by Muammar al-Qaddafi in September 1969 while he was abroad seeking medical treatment. Idris was tried and sentenced to death in absentia by the new government, but died in exile in Egypt in 1983.