L'AFFAIRE BEN BARKA THE KIDNAPING CASTS ITS SHADOW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000100350057-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 1, 1999
• Sequence Number: 57
• Publication Date: March 1, 1966
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

pp ro Ke y FOIAb3b
L'Affpire Bd For Release 2001/07/26 : CIA-RDP75-00149R00010
Ats
THE KIDNAPING. CASTS ITS SHADOW
STUART SCHAAR
THE October 29 abduction in Paris of
Mchdi Ben Barka, 45-year-old leader
of the Moroccan Union rtationale des
forces populaires (UNFP), has not yet
had its full impact on politics in either
Morocco or France. The French Govern-
ment has .charged Rabat with complicity
in the affair and has issued international
warrants for the arrest of three high
Moroccan officials: Minister of Interior
Mohammed Oufkir, the chief of the Na-
tional Police, Major Ahmed Dlimi, and
the chief of the Secret Special Police
Brigade, Larbi Miloud Chtouki. Since
these men are trusted appointees of King
Hassan II and subject to his royal control
and supervision, the integrity of the
monarchy itself has by implication been
challenged.
President de Gaulle is embarrassed by
public evidence that he does not fully
control his own police and intelligence
services. He is irritated by disclosures of
unsavory underworld connections in his
regime uncomfortably reminiscent of the
scandal that rocked the Fourth Republic
and infuriated by the affront to French
sovereignty which the kidnaping en-
tailed. He has shaken tip the French
police system, fired the general who
headed the Service de docurneh io-t
exterieur at de contre-espio~ ape the
French equivalent of the A . and
dismissed an underling implic. to directly
in the case. The intelligence agency
itself has been brought under the juris-
diction of the Minister of Defense, whose
activities de Gaulle monitors personally.
Both countries recalled their ambas-
sadors on January 23-24, but they have
avoided a complete break. Morocco will
apparently continue to receive about
$100,000,000 in financial aid yearly
from France, and about 100,000 French
businessmen, technicians, and school
teachers will remain in Morocco, at least
for the time being. Considerable, credit
for averting a rupture belongs to Ahmed
Rheda Guedira, a former minister' and
Hassan's onetime Man Friday. (See
the 0XII& In Paris
-Paris Match/Plrtarial Perndr. lae.
"Hassan's Morocco," by Stuart Schaar,
A/rica Report, July 1965.) His experi-
ence in negotiating with French official-
dom in behalf of the royal palace played
a' significant role in mollifying de Gaulle
and retaining French aid. In time Guedir 1
may be rewarded for his skill and loyalty
to the throne with an important ambas-
sadorial post, or a portfolio in some
future Moroccan government.
One asks, however, whether General
de Gaulle's decision to go on supporting
the shaky Moroccan economy was in-
fluenced as much by Guedira's silken
diplomacy as it was by Hassan's knowl-
edge of official French involvement in
the case. If more evidence comes to
light, perhaps in a public trial of some of
the participants, the rift in Franco-Mor-
ocean relations would almost certainly
grow. Opposition elements in both coun-
tries, and friends of Ben Barka through-
out the world, are waiting for explana-
tions.
Two Hypotheses
In their own ways, both Rabat and
Paris have been procrastinating in solving
the crime. Despite President de Gaulle's
intervention and his promises to get at
the facts in the case, many of the charges
remain unanswered, including those
against the three Moroccan officials.
Several actors in the drama have man-
aged to leave France or slip into hiding.
A key organizer of the crime, Georges
Figon, conveniently "commitcd suicide"
just as the police were preparing to
arrest him in his apartment. Another
suspect initially found sanctuary in Mo-
rocco and was apparently even questioned
by the Morroccan police, only to vanish.
As a result, many observers wonder
whether they will ever know what really
happened to Mehdi Ben Barka.
One thing seems clear: if, by chance,
Ben Barka is still alive, the ri,gincers
of his kidnaping will'not allow hint to
reappear. He has caused enough scan-
dals, .and his resurrection would cause
more heads to roll in both', France and
Morocco.
AFRICA REPORT, MAII9ved For Release :2001/07/26 : Cho-RDP75700149R00010035'0057-4-