Algeria: Hero by Accident

A triumphal arc of laurel branches spanned the main street of the west Algerian city of Tiaret. In the reviewing stand, dissident Vice Premier Ahmed ben Bella listened to the cheers of thousands of Moslem women chanting Yu! Yu! Yu!, then settled back to listen to a round of speeches from his top aides, attempting to justify his bid to overthrow the government of Premier Benyoussef Benkhedda. Just as one speaker assured the crowd that "Algeria is not the Congo," a messenger passed word to the assembled dignitaries that perhaps it really was. Some 320 miles to the east, at Constantine, Algerians had fired on Algerians; soldiers supporting Ben Bella wrested control of the city from government troops and arrested a government Cabinet minister.

Algeria is certainly not the Congo, but last week, independent less than a month, it bore a definite outward resemblance. In cities and towns, in mountain fortresses and sun-baked desert camps, feuding factions waged a struggle for control. Government was paralyzed and more Europeans were getting out. With industry at a standstill, the U.S., working through church welfare agencies, was feeding one out of five Algerians. What saved Algeria from complete disintegration was a modicum of political maturity and an instinct for survival that made the rival forces at least halfway willing to explore compromises. Emerging from these maneuvers was the near certainty that Ahmed ben Bella, 45, would win his battle "to take over the destiny of Algeria."

Ben Bella is a hero almost by accident. He has no clear ideology, but a talent for ringing phrases, no strong political organization, but considerable political flair. He often seems unsure of himself, but can also be arrogant and tough. Born of simple country parents in the west Algerian town of Marnia, he served as a master sergeant in the French army in World War II, became a terrorist for the Algerian nationalists, was one of the nine founders of the F.L.N. Captured by the French in 1956, he was imprisoned for the next 5½ years. That was a rare stroke of good fortune, for it built Ben Bella up as a martyred exile in the eyes of the Algerian people. Unlike the Algerian leaders who led the war and negotiated the peace with France, Ben Bella remained uncontaminated by either the factional squabbling within the F.L.N. or by the necessity to compromise with the French.

The Gates of Hell. Ben Bella began last week's days of crisis late Sunday evening with the announcement from his headquarters at Tlemcen, near the Moroccan border, that he had formed a seven-man politburo that would oust the "usurpers" of the provisional government (G.P.R.A.) from power and run the country until the formation of a constituent assembly. Premier Benkhedda was specifically excluded from the politburo, and only two members of his government (Ait Akhmed and Mohammed Boudiaf) were in; the rest were all Ben Bella men. Meanwhile, the military forces loyal to Ben Bella solidified control in the wilayas (zones) of both western and eastern Algeria.