A Bottle of Aspirin

Last week Pierre Mendes-France's government decided on one more attempt to settle Tunisia's growing unrest by peaceful means. Tunisian Premier Tahar ben Amar was summoned to a delicate conference in Paris. Ben Amar could not give much ground, or he would be scorned and disowned by hotheaded compatriots. Mendes' Minister for Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs, a Gaullist named Christian Fouchet, was under heavy pressure by his fellow Gaullists to show an iron hand in North Africa. Thus, with neither man left much room for maneuvering, Fouchet and Ben Amar dickered for days, trying to find some way to end the months-long guerrilla war between Tunisian fellaghas (rebel bandits) and French Union troops.

Finally they reached agreement, with Tahar ben Amar making most of the concessions, and calling for a bottle of aspirin. The formula grants amnesty for the fellaghas, provided they lay down their arms. The Tunisian protectorate was divided into 21 "operational areas." To each of these, Tunisian government delegates, accompanied by French officers, are being dispatched this week. By posters, leaflets dropped from airplanes, public announcements in mosques, the offer will be proclaimed. Those fellaghas who turn in their arms within six days will be allowed to go their way without punishment or harassment of any kind. If the amnesty offer fails, Minister Fouchet promised a "pitiless" military campaign against the rebels.