The Press TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1963. Sahara Squabble

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30274, 29 October 1963, Page 14

The Press TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1963. Sahara Squabble

Arab unity appears as unlikely now in the Maghreb as in the Middle East Though mediation to settle the border war between Algeria and Morocco will probably succeed, a truce will not necessarily mean real peace. The differences between the two countries have gradually widened until there is little hope of an early reconciliation and a return to the professed desire of both King Hassan and President Ben Bella for a unified State incorporating both Morocco and Algeria as the first step in a united Maghreb. The trouble springs from the French legacy of vague frontiers, but it goes a good deal deeper than national pride. The Sahara is at last giving up its wealth and the disputed area includes not only the coal deposits at Colomb Bechar and the iron at Tinduf, but also the prospects of oil Their economic significance was recognised by the Algerian F.L.N. nationalists during the long war against France. The rebels often slipped across the Frenchdrawn border to safety in Morocco to regroup for fresh incursions and their former leader, Mr Ferhat Abbas, is reported to have made a compact with King Hassan’s father, King Mohammed, agreeing that the potentially rich tract of desert, which until 1946 had formed part of the French protectorate of Morocco, should be returned to independent Morocco when Algeria became independent.

Mr Ben Bella, who has not troubled to conceal his ambition to be master of the Maghreb, and King

Hassan are not compatible neighbours and the frontier dispute has been aggravated by political differences. The king accused Algeria of supporting the many members of Morocco’s left-wing opposition who were arrested last July on conspiracy charges. Mr Ben Bella, a revolutionary socialist, regards King Hassan as a reactionary and accused him of backing the Berber rising in Algeria. The war of words culminated in the damaging Algerian allegation that King Mohammed was party to the arrest of Mr Ben Bella by the French in 1956. King Hassan was stung into committing troops to stiffen the border, along which tribal skirmishes, which could easily be disclaimed, were not infrequent. It was a tactical error which gave Mr Ben Bella the opportunity to distract attention from the

deficiencies of Algerian socialism to a threat on the border and so to recapture the loyalty of F.L.N. veterans by calling them to arms again.

The desert dust round the outposts of Hassi Beida and Tinjoub has obscured the facts about the fighting, but if major bloodshed has occurred, it could have a profound effect on the Arab creed of unity, which has prevented most recent disputes in the Arab world from erupting into warfare. The best that may be hoped for in any negotiations, as the “ Economist ” says, is agreement to defer frontier questions into a long future when Algeria, less harassed at home, may be in a stronger position to consider Morocco’s claims.