Word: tunisia
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...problem is that barren as it looks to most people, Pantelleria is a thing of beauty to military strategists. The island is the closest point in Europe to the North African mainland-it is only 44 miles from the coast of Tunisia -and is still honeycombed with military tunnels built by Mussolini during World War II. Though the Italian army now has only a 20-man weather team on the island, there are rumors that NATO would like to use it as a radar station to keep track of Arab air forces in North Africa. The rumors are unofficially confirmed...
Rauff's qualifications for such a position are solid. As former administrator of the technical division of the S.S., he reputedly authorized and dispatched moving gas vans in which nearly one hundred thousand Eastern European Jews were murdered. He also served in Tunisia, where his major function was rounding up 81,000 Jews for forced labor under inhuman conditions. During the war, Rauff proved himself able in economic matters as well. He managed to extort, for the German government, a "fine" of 20 million francs from the French Jewish community...
Despite the economic advantages of unification, Tunisia and Libya are otherwise so incompatible that observers jokingly referred to them as "the odd couple." Tunisia has been influenced by the West since Roman times-most recently as a French protectorate (1883-1956) -and has a sophisticated and urbanized middle and upper class. Bourguiba, 70, was educated in French schools and has tried to modernize Tunisia by welcoming Western investors. As long ago as 1965, he called for recognition of Israel. He abrogated many strict Islamic laws, banning polygamy and urging his people to ignore the dawn-to-dusk fast during...
These differences obviously gave Bourguiba and his advisers second thoughts about unification. Only two days after proclamation of the "Arab Islamic Republic," Bourguiba fired the chief architect of the merger, Tunisia's Foreign Minister Mohamed Masmoudi...
...favors many of the Libyan leader's pro-Arab, anti-Western sentiments. Masmoudi advocated unification with Libya, and most likely saw it as a means of improving his own position in the Tunisian power struggle. At week's end, evidence of political difficulties within Tunisia mounted as soldiers occupied key Tunis intersections. Premier Hedi Nouira, a rival of Masmoudi's and a foe of unification, described the troop movements as a "precaution." They were probably meant to discourage Tunisian youth, many of whom admire Gaddafi, from taking to the streets to demonstrate in favor of the merger...