Wolves at the Table

Ill-shaven, nervous, speaking in halting French, Belkacem Krim was clearly a better guerrilla leader than a diplomat; he understood little of the give and take of negotiation. Yet last week Krim was winning good marks for his leadership of the F.L.N. delegation at the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains. France's Algerian Affairs Minister Louis Joxe was impressed by Krim's obvious sincerity, his single-mindedness, and the studied moderation of his language. "He and his kind were hunted like wolves for years on end," said one French delegate. "It would be futile to expect an F.L.N. leader to be a polished statesman."

Still nervous about having rebels in town, the security-conscious Swiss refused to allow Krim to hold regular press conferences, instead set up a closed TV circuit between Krim's heavily guarded villa on the Geneva lakefront and the Maison de la Presse, three miles away, where Krim's image was projected on a huge screen in the main auditorium. First subject on Krim's mind was De Gaulle's unilateral declaration of a cease-fire in Algeria. Instead of welcoming an end to the fighting, Krim denounced it as "blackmail," called it "premature from a military, psychological and political point of view."

What worries Krim and the F.L.N. is that guerrilla forces traditionally disintegrate unless they are under constant military pressure. Should fighting cease, the rugged F.L.N. bands will be tempted to lay down their arms and abandon their mountain hideouts, thus leaving the F.L.N. without a military force in being. To meet the threat of peace, the rebels last week redoubled their efforts in Algeria with a rash of isolated assassinations and bomb throwings. At Miliana, 90 miles from Algiers, rebels ambushed a convoy, killing eleven gendarmes. At Sidi Aich, in rugged Kabylia, 14 Moslem soldiers in the French army deserted to the F.L.N., killing four French soldiers and four Moslems who refused to join them.

European settlers in Algeria were bitter. "Naturally," said one, "the F.L.N. will take advantage of the truce to intensify its attacks. It's madness to believe that it would do anything else." Even Moslem sympathizers were disappointed by the F.L.N.'s rejection of De Gaulle's offer of a ceasefire. If the talks at Evian end in a stalemate, the F.L.N.'s stubborn decision to keep fighting may backfire.

At week's end French Delegate Joxe made a flying trip to Paris to see De Gaulle, returned to tell newsmen at Evian that "all interested persons," i.e., the F.L.N.. will be consulted "in detail" before an Algerian referendum on a choice between independence, association or "Francization." He implied that France was prepared to accept joint French-F.L.N. supervision of the referendum. Joxe also sought to calm F.L.N. fears of a partition of Algeria on racial lines. Though citing India as a nation that had been forced to accept partition, Joxe maintained that France would do its best to see that partition did not become necessary--but that required convincing guarantees from the rebels that Algeria's million Europeans will be neither discriminated against nor forced to lose their French nationality.

On only one point, was there total agreement. Both sides indicated their willingness to stay at Evian and talk "until a solution is reached."

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