Spain Cools to Arabs
MOWRER, RICHARD
Nasser antics, Moroccan demands disturb Franco SPAIN COOLS TO ARABS By Richard Mowrer Madrid Spain's Arab policy is taking a new tack: away from the Moslem world, closer to Europe. Almost...
...Incidents in Sidi Ifni have led to the deportation of nationalist agitators to the Canary Islands...
...Almost unqualified support of Arab nationalism has been displaced by an attitude of prudent reserve, and there is a tendency to alignment with France on some issues...
...Some Spaniards even became boastful when it w as learned that Jews of Spanish descent, the Sephardim, had participated in the operation...
...3. Moroccan claims to Spanish territory, punctuated by border clashes and other incidents...
...But tricky political problems remain...
...Spain thereupon denounced a border agreement with France which had been in effect for 30 years...
...El Alam, organ of the powerful Istiqlal party, had this to say about the Faure-Castiella meeting: "Morocco will not allow herself to be pressured by accords reached by France and Spain...
...Spain still has 53.000 troops in Morocco (France has 75.000...
...The rebels could rest and regroup without having to surrender their arms...
...In August, Spain's Foreign Minister Fernando Castiella met the French State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Maurice Faure, and discussed, among other things, North African problems...
...There is no intention of giving them up...
...These two countries have sought to reach secret agreement on policy with regard to Morocco's determination to liberate the Sahara areas still in their grip...
...Spain has refused...
...Although the news has been kept quiet, it is known here that on August 11 Moroccan units clashed with Spanish troops at the border post of Tighsil...
...It could mean, eventually, joint exploitation of the natural wealth of the Sahara and exploration of the possibilities of channeling this wealth to the Atlantic coast through Spanish territory...
...Whatever develops, it seems that French-Spanish feuding in North Africa is petering out, much to the chagrin of some Moroccans...
...Whereas turmoil and rebellion spread throughout the French protectorate, the Spanish zone enjoyed immunity from nationalist agitation—so much so that in their frequent displays of cordiality Spaniards and Moroccans could truly refer to Spanish Morocco as the "oasis of peace...
...The agreement, formulated at the lime of the Abd el Krim revolt in the 1920s, permitted pursuit of Moroccan rebels by French or Spanish forces across the frontier into one another's zones...
...Negotiations with Morocco on economic and cultural matters arising from the handing over of the Spanish zone to Moroccan sovereignty have apparently worked out well...
...The Spanish hope not, but as a precaution they are drawing closer to France...
...It could mean collaboration to defend their holdings in Mauretania and Rio de Oro against Moroccan claims...
...When reporting disturbances in French Morocco, the Spanish-controlled radio station in the Spanish zone, speaking in Arabic, referred to Moroccan nationalist terrorists as "patriot partisans" and "redeemers...
...The aura of beautiful friendship began to fade away a year ago, when nationalist leaders demanded that Ceuta, Melilla, Ifni and Rio de Oro be handed over to newly independent Morocco...
...In those days, Spain's all-out effort to win and retain Arab friendship was paying off...
...Nor was Madrid too happy when Cairo Radio asserted in September 1956 that "many Spaniards have informed the Egyptian Embassy in Madrid that they are prepared to furnish a brigade to defend Egypt against anv eventual aggressor...
...The future" could mean French-Spanish solidarity at the United Nations and other international gatherings...
...In the fall of 1955, the warrior tribes of the Rif, a mountainous region straddling the French and Spanish zones, rose up against the French garrisons...
...Press comment, which is supervised by the Government, became divided on the Suez issue, some papers speaking out in favor of Nasser, others expressing reservations about him...
...Will the eventual withdrawal of Spanish troops from Morocco spur increased agitation for seizure of Spanish territory...
...The controlled press has ceased churning out violent diatribes against the French...
...The Government kept silent, but when Nasser asked Spain to provide pilots to help keep the Suez Canal in operation Spain declined...
...Recently Foreign Minister Almied Balafiej staled that the problem of foreign troops in the country would have to be solved, "for it ;s not reasonable that in an independent country foreign armies should comport themselves like armies of occupation...
...They have put a stop to incursions into French-held Mauretania (also claimed by Morocco) by tribal bands from Rio de Oro...
...The state-oriented press and radio vehemently denounced the French course in the North African crisis...
...tile United States 15.000 Air Force and \aval personnel at five bases...
...An uneasy feeling developed that Spain risked finding herself on the same side of the fence as the Russians if she stood up for Gamal Abdel Nasser...
...Ceuta and Melilla, cities on the Mediterranean's southern shore, were ceded to Spain in 1767...
...We have spoken of the future...
...This summer the authorities seized two ships suspected of carrying arms to the Algerian rebels...
...In certain high quarters here, especially among the military, there was quiet jubilation when Israel's army routed the Egyptians in Sinai...
...The reasons for the shift are: 1. Concern over Soviet gains in the Middle East...
...In the period leading up to Moroccan independence, the Franco Government's line was to play up to the nationalists' growing revolt against the French...
...France and Spain b.-ive reached agreement on delineation of the frontier between Mauretania and Rio de Oro...
...Official enthusiasm for Moroccan nationalism has also been on the wane...
...On August 17, there was another clash in the northeast corner of the Ifni enclave...
...Today there is concern in Madrid because the Rabat Government itself is beginning to blow hot on the Ifni issue...
...Since then, the Spanish attitude toward Middle East affairs has stiffened considerably...
...This made it possible for Rif rebels hard-pressed by the French to find sanctuary in Spanish territory, where the French could no longer pursue them without violating Spanish sovereignty...
...Ifni is a Spanish possession on Morocco's Atlantic coast, and Rio de Oro is a large colony to the south...
...2. Fear of Communist penetration throughout North Africa...
...But Egypt's flirting with the Soviet bloc and nationalization of the Suez Canal began to raise serious doubts here...
...It has adopted a neutral tone regarding Algeria...
...It has requested that a Moroccan governor be appointed in the territory...
...Simultaneously, Spanish border forces were pulled back several miles, ostensibly to avoid involvement in the fighting...
...we have not spoken of the past," said Faure after the meeting...
...Reinforcements have been sent to the territory...
Vol. 40 • October 1957 • No. 41
