IN the two, ill-starred months of Algeria's independence, it has become plain that the only effective power in the country is not wielded by Ahmed ben Bella and his Politburo. It lies in the fragile, nicotine-stained hands of Colonel Houari Boumedienne. 37, the brooding ascetic who is unchallenged leader of the nation's disciplined, 45,000-man "regular'' army.
It was Boumedienne who ousted ex-Premier Benyoussef Benkhedda last summer and backed the more "revolutionary" Ben Bella in his place. Last week Boumedienne kept Ben Bella in power by routing the rebellious forces that held Algiers in defiance of the Politburo. And if Ben Bella topples,...
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