The last time Ahmed ben Bella saw Algiers' airport, he was handcuffed and accompanied by French guards who were transporting him to France and 5½ years in prison. Last week Ben Bella (45) returned to Algiers in triumph, ruler now of Algeria after an audacious, month-long struggle for power that led his crisis-weary country close to civil war.
So thick were the crowds that surged to greet Ben Bella's plane when it touched down at Maison Blanche Airport that an Algerian army officer in a paratroop uniform fired a tommy gun in...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
