Arab merger doubts

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33433, 15 January 1974, Page 13

Arab merger doubts

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) TUNIS, January 14. A referendum due to be held this week to approve formally the merger between Libya and Tunisia is expected to be postponed for two months, according to well-informed sources in Tunis.

More than 24 hours after the surprise announcement that the two countries intended to merge under one Presidency into one State, the Islamic Arab Republic, there was still no firm indication how the referendum, planned for next Friday, was going to be organised. If it is postponed it will probably take place on March 20, to coincide with Tunisia’s Independence Day. The merger was announced on Saturday afternoon after a shock meeting between President Bourguiba of Tunisia and the Libyan leader, Colonel Gadaffi.

The news of the proposed merger appears to have come as a complete surprise to neighbouring countries, and has been greeted with scepticism in some Arab capitals: In Algeria, for instance, officials expressed strong doubts about the success of the project, saying that such a merger could work only if it was carefully prepared, with the support of the people, implying this was not the case with Tunisia and Libya. The official Algerian news agency asked: “How could such an important decision possibly be taken during a one-hour meeting between two Heads of State?” The agency insisted that Libya was “changing partners, after her short-lived marriage with Egypt." There is still no official comment in Morocco, which severed diplomatic relations with Libya after the attempted coup d’etat against King Hassan by rebel army forces in 1972: the King accused the Libyans of granting aid to his political opponents, and of arming the rebel forces.

In Libya, where Colonel Gadaffi was given an enthusiastic welcome on his return from Tunisia, the proposed Islamic Arab Republic has been greeted as an important step towards greater Arab unity. In Tunisia, observers have noted that reaction to the merger is not all in favour of it. If the younger part of the population praises the President for his surprise move, and would welcome union with Libya, many older elements, and some of Mr Bourguiba’s own contemporaries, apparently feel that he is going too far too fast: some of them recall that he cautioned Colonel Gadaffi when the young Libyan leader first proposed the merger in December, 1972. It is apparently to explain his sudden change of heart that Mr Bourguiba has sent two of his closest aides, the Minister of the Interior (Mr Tahar Belkhodja) and one of his private advisers, Mr Habib Chatti, to Algeria and Morocco.