Dissension in the Maghreb

...In addition the 17,000 Algerian refugees working as civil servants in Morocco have contributed a needed element of stability to that country...

...To have each country construct its own refineries or factories, for example, would be costly, wasteful and selfdefeating...

...Frustrated by a political cul de sac of their own making, and angry at Tunisia's Habib Bourguiba for compounding their embarrassment —as well as for heading a government which is making the sort of progress their own country has sadly lacked—the Moroccans recently decided to retaliate somewhat by showing that all is not really well in Tunisia either...

...Although the phantom "Front" did not greatly disturb Bourguiba, Morocco's patronage of it did...

...Rather than give a greater internal role to Morocco's opposition Union of Popular Forces (UPF) and the trade unions, he has tried to channel domestic discontent into such foreign ventures as pushing for the return of previously held territory...

...Moreover, the Algerian power struggle has exposed some glaring problems among the three North African nations...

...At the moment, then, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria appear to be going their separate ways with little regard for each other's welfare...

...For Rabat, however, Mauretania has become what Algeria was to France: a territory which the more realistic leaders no longer really want, but are afraid to renounce for fear of being labeled traitors...

...Rabat reacted by suggesting Ben Salah "must have been thinking of Tunisia" when he berated injustice and punishment of opposition, since such things could simply not occur in Morocco...

...On the other, Tunisians have repeatedly found themselves disturbed by the younger Algerians giving voice to their dream of "liberating" the remainder of colonial Africa...

...The leaders of republican Tunisia and republicanminded Algeria always expected to work, for a while at least, with a monarch in Rabat...

...they point to other sparsely populated states such as Chad and Gabon as examples of viable small African nations...

...The biggest point of contention between Morocco and Tunisia is Mauretania, which Tunis has recognized as an independent state and even helped sponsor for United Nations membership...

...This would allow all to share in the costs and benefits, and prevent competition in the export of products...

...Accordingly, last March Rabat welcomed a littleknown Tunisian businessman named Mohammed Abdelkefi, who, with much local publicity, proceeded to announce the formation of a "Tunisian National Democratic Front" pledged to the overthrow of "President Bourguiba's dictatorship...

...It is Tunisia's feeling, therefore, that Morocco should accept the fait accompli...

...But the problems the various ruling groups face in trying to maintain their internal popularity have for some time endangered the genuine unity of purpose that could pay dividends for all...

...Fortunately, the Sahara is large enough for the Algerians to be generous in rectifying old border disputes and in allowing a reasonable amount of joint effort in the development and use of its power resources...

...Lorna Hahn, assistant professor at American University, wrote North Africa: Nationalism to Nationhood...

...The most obvious source of discord among the three countries, however—their radically different forms of government—is in itself not important...

...Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria agreed to cooperate more closely in economic and political matters, to "coordinate" their foreign policies and to form a consultative assembly charged with drawing up plans for an eventual confederation of the Maghreb...

...Thus, in April the Tunisians replied in kind...

...And the Mauretanians themselves want to remain independent...

...Ghana and Guinea, despite their pledges to the contrary in the Casablanca Charter, also have indicated that an independent Mauretania is agreeable to them...

...But in many respects, they have been closer to Morocco than to Tunisia: They adhered to the Casablanca group, formed a joint AlgerianMoroccan Unification Committee in January, and benefited from the good offices of King Hassan in arranging the release of Ben Bella and his companions...

...On the other hand, since Morocco already has a multitude of mines which remain untapped, Tunisians wonder whether Hassan's suzerainty would benefit either Moroccans or Mauretanians...

...It makes far more sense, it is felt, for such plants to be built either jointly or with the agreement of the other countries...

...For his part, Morocco's King Hassan II has been able to effect a modus vivendi with such rabid anti-monarchists as Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser...

...On the one hand, Bourguiba's frequent pleas for moderation, in both word and deed, have often irked the self-confident Algerians...

...In the process, he has antagonized not only France and Spain but Tunisia, too...

...This would permit the formation of a representative government which could plan genuine economic development and social reform, and provide for a fixed and orderly pattern of governmental change...

...Algerian-Tunisian relations, meanwhile, have not gone quite so smoothly...

...Morocco's claim to this totally undeveloped land of roughly 650,000 tribesmen is not without historical foundation, and its bitterness toward France—which established a separate Mauretania to insure control of the country's mineral wealth—has some justification...

...Cooperation along such lines could well be more meaningful than a political union forged in a burst of enthusiasm but devoid of any real content...

...For while North African political unity may be a long way off, there is a general concensus that early economic cooperation is not only desirable but necessary...

...Now the Algerian war is over, and the keystone of the Maghreb is officially independent...

...The National Liberation Front's plans for remaking Algerian society are surely closer to the Neo-Destour program than to that of the present Moroccan regime...

...Even if the ultimate winner in Algeria chooses to overlook the fact that initially Tunisia tacitly supported Benyoussef Ben Khedda while Morocco backed Mohammed Ben Bella, he is not likely to forget that Moroccan and Algerian troops have already come to blows over a Sahara boundary dispute...

...And though both countries, as well as the other Sahara border states, may agree to blame the trouble on France's past refusals to rectify boundary claims, there will still be areas of Maghrebian dissension which can no longer be blamed on the familiar bête noir of colonialism...

...NORTH AFRICA AFTER COLONIALISM Dissension in the Maghreb By Lorna Hahn Four years ago, following a conference of political leaders in Tangiers, prospects for North African unity appeared bright...

...Faced with the task of setting their own house in order, the Algerian leaders have on the whole remained neutral in the dispute...

...As for the Sahara, with the exception of the French base at Mers el Kebir, the Evian accords granted Algeria full sovereignty over it...

...Abderahim Bouabid, a leader of the Moroccan opposition, was allowed to participate in a program in which the Tunisian Minister of Plans and Finance, Ahmed Ben Salah, assailed Morocco's "feudalism" and lack of "social justice...

...But once a stable government is organized in Algeria the balance might swing the other way...

...In fact, Morocco fears the rapid development of Socialism and egalitarianism in its neighbor, for, among other things, the anti-monarchist sentiment rife among the young Algerians could be transmitted to potentially rebellious young Moroccans...

...Similar agreements in the growth and marketing of agricultural commodities are also mutually desired, as is cooperation with—although not actual membership in—the Common Market...

...The major stumbling bloc to the pooling of resources and policies—Algeria's unsettled status—was to have disappeared once the Algerian conflict had ended...

...Nevertheless, given some common sense all around and barring unforeseen political or economic catastrophe, there are certain practical considerations which may yet pull the three together...

...But peace has revealed a serious split in the top ranks of the Algerian leadership, and the country is once again threatened with bloody internal strife...

...If Morocco were ruled by an angel and not a man, Hassan would doubtless conclude that he could best serve his people by declaring himself in favor of a republic, calling for an elected constitutional assembly, and then abdicating his throne to take up the role of elder statesman...

...But being only human, the young king wants to keep his throne...