Battle of Bel Air

Ex-General Raoul Salan's Secret Army Organization seemed to own Algiers. The police either would not or could not find the S.A.O. terrorists. The French army was either sympathetic or indifferent to the S.A.O. resolve to keep Algeria French. But for the past month, the S.A.O. has been under attack by a band of newcomers nicknamed barbouzes (bearded ones). They began by machine-gunning the cars in which S.A.O. men blatantly drove around Algiers. Next, they bombed 17 cafes patronized exclusively by the S.A.O. Barbouzes are credited with the "disappearance" of several S.A.O. chieftains.

The S.A.O. last week finally located the secret barbouze headquarters. It was a modern villa called Bel Air, set among the olive and palm trees on the heights of Algiers. The head barbouze was identified as Colonel Jean Leroy, 50, a veteran paratroop officer and guerrilla leader who is half French, half Vietnamese. In Paris last fall, Leroy accepted a commission from De Gaulle's government to form a 100-man underground police force to fight the S.A.O. with its own terror tactics.

Leroy Was Here. Shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, an S.A.O. detachment opened fire on Villa Bel Air with bazookas and machine guns. Leroy's men replied with automatic arms and hand grenades. Fleeing, the attackers left behind them one dead S.A.O. terrorist under a bush. He was the first open battle casualty of the S.A.O., and is already being hailed among ultras as the No. 1 martyr of Algerie Franc,aise. Colonel Leroy, keeping his own casualties secret, moved out next night to another secret headquarters.

The battle of Villa Bel Air set off a wave of terror throughout Algeria in which the S.A.O., the barbouzes, the Moslem F.L.N., the police and the army appeared to tangle indiscriminately. In four cities within four days, 80 people were killed and 160 wounded. Several Moslems suspected of being terrorists were caught by a crowd in Oran and burned alive in their car. In a mountain gorge near Bougie, the F.L.N. ambushed a French army convoy, killing 18 soldiers--the highest army losses in recent months.

Freed Comrades. Yet, through the welter of blood, the secret negotiations between the French and the F.L.N. continued, and there seemed to be some progress toward a settlement. In Paris, President Charles de Gaulle told a visitor at the Elysee Palace: "We'll see results shortly." From his Tunisian headquarters, F.L.N. Premier Benyoussef Benkhedda flew to Morocco, where he was hailed by a crowd of 50,000 and received the 21-gun salute awarded to heads of state. With him, settling down for an indefinite stay in Morocco, was the top leadership of the F.L.N. Evident purpose of the F.L.N. migration: to cement relations with a major North African power. *

But if agreement is reached between France and the F.L.N., it could well unleash a burst of violence by Salan and his S.A.O. Running gun fights in the streets obviously cannot overthrow De Gaulle; what Salan is believed to be counting on is bringing the Europeans out in a mass demonstration that will pose for the French army in Algeria the grim dilemma of either shooting down Frenchmen or tacitly joining with Salan. As a warning against a ceasefire, the S.A.O. last week plastered posters throughout Algiers. As if parodying De Gaulle's own grand style, the posters were headed, "I, Raoul Salan, commander in chief," and ended grimly by demanding the "mobilization" of all Algerians to oppose both De Gaulle and the F.L.N. and thus "save Algeria for the fatherland!"

* French observers see an additional reason: with a ceasefire, De Gaulle is committed to release from prison Mohammed ben Bella and four other F.L.N. Cabinet members who were captured in 1956 when the pilot of their plane was tricked into landing on French territory. Once freed, the F.L.N. ministers will be returned by the French to their point of origin: Morocco, Benkhedda evidently wants to be on hand to welcome his old comrades.

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