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The F.L.N. leadership maintained an enigmatic silence while measuring its opportunity. But De Gaulle's domestic opponents, left and right, exploded into protest. The French Communist Party, now playing the rebels' game, ordered its supporters to vote no in the referendum. In Spain General Raoul Salan and red-bearded Pierre Lagaillarde fumed in frustration; they had planned to slip into Algeria and rouse the ultras against De Gaulle. But French diplomatic pressure on Spain frustrated them instead. Admitted Lagaillarde last week, "Yes, I tried to board ship to get back to Algeria. So did Salan. We were stopped by the Spanish police."
Running Time. De Gaulle's solution may not suit everybody, but to most Frenchmen it seems to be the only one with a chance of success. At the United Nations, in tacit recognition of De Gaulle's obvious good intentions, France's former colonies in Africa and its Western allies united to defeat the demand for an Algerian referendum on self-determination held under U.N. auspices.
But, as a sign that time is running out for De Gaulle and France, the General Assembly, for the first time and by an overwhelming 63-to-8 vote, passed a resolution declaring that Algerian freedom is a U.N. responsibility. The warning seemed clear: either France settles the Algerian problem, or everybody else will soon be taking a hand.