Word: hassan
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Fresh from a state visit to King Hassan II in Rabat, Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie flew to Algeria aboard the imperial Boeing 720 jet. Wearing a British field marshal's uniform, the Lion of Judah was warmly greeted by Socialist Strongman Ahmed ben Bella, who happened to be wearing his own favorite costume, Castro-type fatigues. Other envoys and messages descended on Morocco from the Arab League, the President of the Sudan, the Redeemer of Ghana, the President of Tunisia, and the feuding rulers of Egypt and Iraq...
Just as inconclusive was the unrelenting propaganda barrage between Morocco's King Hassan, a tough ex-playboy, and militant Socialist Ben Bella, which by last week blossomed into a full-scale ideological struggle, with Ben Bella backed by Egypt's Nasser and a host of black African nations. Dramatizing its case against Morocco's supposedly "feudal" and "imperialist" regime, Algeria broadcast a parody of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, with Hassan in the title role and a supporting cast of Uncle Sam, King Farouk and David Ben-Gurion...
...Little King played it cool. Ben Bella, Hassan remarked, "should take great care. He is in the process of introducing into North Africa a virus from which God has so far protected us: lies, psychological warfare, and insults." Face it, said Hassan to his foe: "Whether you like it or not, Morocco will have the regime it has chosen. Make the best of a bad deal and coexist with this monarchy that you abhor...
...Group. By week's end the eager peacemakers were having trouble, too. Algeria demanded a full meeting of the 32-member Organization of African Unity, in which Ben Bella partisans have a majority. Instead, Haile Selassie offered to serve as chairman of a truce meeting in Tunis including Hassan, Ben Bella and one of the unlikeliest political fraternities ever gathered outside the U.N. cocktail lounge-Egypt's Nasser, Tunisia's Habib Bourguiba, Libya's King Idriss, Mali's Modibo Keita, and Guinea's Sekou Toure...
That crowd was too big for Hassan, who proposed a cozier group to meet in Bamako, Mali, with President Keita, Emperor Haile Selassie and Ben Bella. Although Algeria finally agreed, neither side seemed particularly eager to settle the war, because the political benefits of patriotic fervor were considerable. Ben Bella was drafting all his unemployed into the army, and Hassan's own domestic opposition faded, at least temporarily, while crowds cheered him and kissed his hands...