Word: destour
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...stages. Premier Faure himself headed up the French negotiators. The nominal head of the Tunisian delegation was portly Premier Tahar Ben Amar, a wealthy pro-French landlord. But the real Tunisian string-puller, behind the scenes, was handsome, saturnine Habib Bourguiba, exiled leader of Tuisia's nationalist Neo-Destour Party and an authentic political genius...
...Rescue. But at this critical moment Edgar Faure had a trump card to play: Habib Bourguiba. That afternoon, obviously at Faure's invitation, the swart Neo-Destour leader stalked into the Hotel Matignon, the Premier's residence. After being closeted two hours with Faure, Bourguiba came out smiling broadly, and issued an optimistic statement. Much heartened, the Premiers of France and Tunisia got to work again, and at 1:25 a.m. gave out the joyful word: they had reached agreement. Almost choked with emotion, Premier Ben Amar said: "This is our wedding day." Said Premier Faure: "We must...
Such surrenders were made possible only because the Neo-Destour. Tunisia's leading independence party, agreed to the French plan. Most of the men who went out into the mountains with French officers at their sides were members of NeoDestour, seeking to prove that though they want independence they do not approve violence. It still remains to be seen whether the Neo-Destourists can influence more than their own supporters in the hills. Perhaps another 1,500 fellaghas continue to hide out; some are fanatic patriots, others are, and always have been, ruthless brigands...
...give the talks the best possible chance of success, Mendès restored to legal status the Neo-Destour Party of nationalists, outlawed since 1938. Several hundred Tunisians, held in isolation or in jail, were amnestied (though not any accused of murder). Travel controls were eased. These improvements followed the suggestions of Habib Bourguiba, exiled Neo-Destour leader, who is now sojourning at a villa not far from Paris and giving friendly advice to the Mendès-France government...
...blessing of Tunisia's nationalists was less certain. With their religious festival, Aid el Kebir, upon them, crowds gathered in the streets, waiting for Neo-Destour to decide whether the holiday should be celebrated with joy, or with reserve. At last the word spread through the bazaars: celebrate with...