Veiled women shrilled their adulation, and students bore him on their shoulders through the streets when Habib Bourguiba returned from exile to lead Tunisia to independence. They cheered again when he deposed the old Bey of Tunis and had himself proclaimed President of the new republic. But in the last year there has been a change in the smiling, accessible Bourguiba. Since he moved into the President's palace, he has become increasingly autocratic, petulant and impatient of criticism. Ambassadors were instructed to bow three times on withdrawing from his presenceĀa custom imposed by the Bey whom Bourguiba overthrew in...
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