Word: oran
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...opposing Moslem F.L.N. factions opened up on each other with everything but bullets. While moderate Premier Benyoussef Benkhedda tried to spread his influence from Algiers to the southeast, his bitter rival, radical Vice Premier ben Bella, entered western Algeria for a triumphal march to Oran. After a brief stop at Marnia, his birthplace near the Moroccan border, Ben Bella and his ever-lengthening motorcade drove on to the city of Tlemcen (pop. 80,000). Thousands of veiled women and turbaned men lined the streets, while hundreds of pigtailed little girls in the national colors-white dresses, red sashes, green kerchiefs...
...Benkhedda carried his case to the people, traveling from Algiers into the mountains of Kazylia, where 100,000 cheering Berbers welcomed him at Tizi-Ouzou. He told his audience that national unity was essential "if the goals of our revolution are to be achieved." At the same time, in Oran, Ben Bella spoke with growing confidence and toughness...
...Oran itself, Europeans were in a panic over the mysterious disappearance of several hundred friends and relatives, reportedly kidnaped by the Moslems as suspected members of the Secret Army. Questioned about the missing Europeans, an F.L.N. army officer said curtly, "Consider them all dead. Forget about the dead, as we Moslems have our 2,000,000 victims, and think of the future...
...French, and is proving equally adept at intraparty warfare. His opponent, Ben Bella, 45, was one of the nine founders of the F.L.N. (only four others are alive today), a passionate orator and "activist," and still an authentic hero to millions of Algerians. In 1949 he held up the Oran central post office to get funds for the revolution, was later captured by the French, and escaped from jail. In 1956 Ben Bella and three other top leaders of the F.L.N. were arrested when their Moroccan plane was intercepted by the French, and he spent the next five years...
While Moslems, divided or not, hailed the coming of freedom, frightened Europeans watched the death throes of the Secret Army. In Algiers the S.A.O. had already abandoned the fight. Even in Oran, where resistance lasted longest, the terrorists last week melted away. Ex-General Paul Gardy, nominal head of the S.A.O. for all Algeria, fled the country with his top commanders. The illegal S.A.O. transmitter in Oran went on the air a final time. "Our struggle has become hopeless and therefore senseless," said the announcer, and then added brokenly, "Algeria is dead. The will of God be done." Getting ready...