Word: politburo
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After weeks of bluster and sporadic bloodshed, Algeria's Politburo Chief Ahmed ben Bella last week finally ordered his troops to seize the new nation's rebellious capital...
...district that includes Algiers and the surrounding region. As their trucks squealed to a halt, Ben Bella's troops embraced their foes at the barricades and sat down to drink coffee together. "Dear brother," one of Ben Bella's officers would say, "we have orders from the Politburo to advance on Algiers." A wilaya commander would reply: "Dear brother, we are sorry but we have orders not to let you pass." Then the brothers abandoned fraternity for fratricide...
...Real Independence." In Algiers itself, meanwhile, militiamen loyal to the Politburo surged out of hiding and seized control of the casbah in rooftop fighting. From Oran, where lie had fled four days earlier to avoid arrest by Wilaya 4 troops, Ahmed ben Bella slipped into Algiers, dressed in woman's clothing. There, in return for a ceasefire, Rebel Leader Colonel Hassan agreed to evacuate the city and to confine his routed, discredited forces to one of the suburbs...
Changing into a dark blue suit, Ben Bella that night delivered a "victory" speech from a balcony overlooking Algiers' spacious Forum. But so disgusted are Algerians with their squabbling leaders that scarcely 500 turned out to hear Ben Bella proclaim: "The crisis is over. The Politburo's authority is restored!" Unconvincingly, he added: "Algeria's real independence dates from today...
...time during last week's blood letting, no one seemed to know who the enemy was - or, for that matter, what the shooting was all about. Finally, a Wilaya 4 officer explained that some 500 well-armed men loyal to the Politburo had entered Algiers disguised as civilians and were scattered in small groups all over town. The young leaders of Wilaya 4 vaguely accused the Politburo of "betraying the martyrs of the revolution.'' For their part, the officers admit to murders and lootings but argue, in one officer's words: "Why should we respect...