Algerian Coup Believed Moslem-Orientated

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30795, 6 July 1965, Page 9

Algerian Coup Believed Moslem-Orientated

(From

FRANK OLIVER,

t. N.Z P.A.

Special Correspondent.} WASHINGTON. July 5. No foreign situation (always excepting Vietnam) has created so much interest in recent months as has the dramatic change in Algiers. It certainly took this city by surprise and created an enormous amount of speculation, In the beginning observers of foreign affairs limited their speculation to the narrow field of whether it meant closer ties with Peking or warmer relations with Moscow. Now the more information that arrives. Both publicly and privately, the wider the implications of the change become and the pleasanter things look for free world interests. Press reports make it clear that there will not be closer relations with either Peking or Moscow if the Algerian change holds and private information from Algiers gives what seems to be a logical reason. In effect, say these renorts, the revolt against Ben Bella was Moslem in origin and in sentiment, that though Algeria intends to be a Socialist state the new leaders prefer it to be based on the Moslem religion rather than that neoreligion, communism. Thus, it is expected, the new leaders if they can solidify their position, will maintain friendly relations with Peking and Moscow without coming i under the domination of either. Enormous Interest The many ramifications that run from such a situation are the things causing such enormous interest among foreign affairs exports and

students in this country. The effects of the Algerian change will, it is believed by some, be felt as far from the Mediterranean as Djakarta and, of course, Peking. It is abundantly clear that Chou En-lai went home from Cairo a disgrunted man. He lost his platform in Algiers from which he proposed to blast just about everybody but particularly Washington’s position in Africa. The suspicion in Washington is that, after his disappointments in East Africa, the Chinese position in Africa as a whole has received a serious blow from which it will take long to recover if it recovers at all. That may be overoptimistic but is believed by many observers to be true in essence. This leads some Washington observers to believe that the Bandung conference is less healthy than it was. China has lost face, all agree, and most agree that Sukarno can not breathe enough fire into the organisation to return it to robust health. Sukarno’s Position Sukarno himself, say some observers, may be less well off politically because of the Algerian change. There is said to be a large body of Moslem opinion in Indonesia which for years has viewed with apprehension the drift of Djakarta toward communism. It is hoped by many that the Algerian change, when its Moslem character is well established, will hearten and strengthen such opinion. To get nearer the home of the revolt there is an abundance of evidence reaching Washington indicating that the position of Nasser has been materially weakened by the Algerian coup d’etat, that his strongest ally has disappeared and that he is now surrounded only by small

'satellites whose modest support will not permit him to talk as loudly or belligerently as he has become accustomed to do. News media in Washington tend to show Chou, Sukarno and Nasser in Cairo as three international trouble-makers, each of whom has received a political black-eye by the cancellation of the Algiers conference, which arose out of the de-throning of Ben Bella. The new Algerian leaders are being given credit for accomplishing a great deal more than they set out to do when they arrested Ben Bella. Consolidation The only worry is whether Boumedienne can make the coup d’etat “stick” and consolidate the power of his regime. Private advice from the area, from sources close to the new Algerian Head of State, expresses firmly the belief that he can. Naturally the daily despatches from Algiers are being studied with keen interest, mixed with a degree of optimism about African affairs in general, especially in view of continued reports from various African centres that while the drive for socialism goes on there is a lessening of passion for communism, either of the Moscow or Peking type, among a number of influential African leaders.