Word: tunisia
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Tunisia's Habib Bourguiba was genuinely ill with infectious hepatitis, Iraq's Hassan Bakr appeared to have a diplomatic ailment, and Syria's Noureddine Atassi simply stayed home. But every other leader of the Arab League nations, as well as Guerrilla Leader Yasser Arafat, at week's end converged on Rabat for the first Arab summit in two years. The dominant figure, of course, was Gamal Abdel Nasser. The principal aim of the Egyptian President was to try once again to unite the divided Arabs in order to exert increased pressure on Israel...
...shift eliminated summer rains from most of Europe and brought unusually warm and sunny weather. Meanwhile, cool air suddenly began to flow from the Soviet Union toward the Mediterranean. A low-pressure system over Northern Africa created a bowling-alley effect, directing the moisture-laden air mass straight at Tunisia. On the Tunisian-Algerian border, the Atlas Mountains blocked the air and caused the rain to fall. The mountains also set up a swirling air flow in which clouds gathered up new water...
...Revised. Rivers crested 36 feet above normal. Whole villages vanished. Thirty-five major bridges were washed away, and the map of Tunisia was drastically revised. At least 1,000,000 livestock drowned and 10,000 olive trees were uprooted. The Zeroud and Marguelil rivers, swirling together, created a torrent eight miles wide. The force was so great that 100-ton concrete slabs, used to anchor bridges, were hurled downstream. An irrigation project that took two years and $7,000,000 to construct was washed away in six hours. As late as last week the Mediterranean was still an oozing ochre...
...Roman village. Inland lakes eight miles wide were created by rainfalls of 16 inches in 24 hours. The lakes are now draining down to raise the water table, and farmers are assured of at least four years of well-watered soil. Most important, the rains that battered 80% of Tunisia bypassed coastal resort areas whose hotels account for $40 million in tourist revenues annually. Even so, cancellations already total...
Help from Abroad. Foreign Minister Bourguiba, son of the founder and President of Tunisia, has spent most of his time since the flood pleading for foreign assistance. Morocco, France and the U.S. sent helicopters that brought food and medical personnel to isolated areas and flew stranded families out. The U.S. also allotted nearly $1,000,000 and West Germany $2,500,000 in loans and grants. French, Belgian, Dutch and Spanish engineers are already at work rebuilding rail lines and restoring the water system. Russia dispatched $20,000 worth of blankets, food and medicine and a message of sympathy...