The Man Who Came to Dinner

During last month's Rabat conference on North African unity, Morocco's handsome, personable King Hassan II wangled an informal invitation to visit Algeria from the charmed guests in the Algerian delegation. Fact was Algeria's Premier Ahmed ben Bella hit the roof when he heard the news, for he reserved the honor of the first official visit of a chief of state to Algeria since its independence for a real advocate of "socialist Arab nationalism," Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser. For all Morocco's warm cooperation during the struggle with France, the high-living young monarch's autocratic ideas are anathema to Ben Bella and his crusading idealists. "Hassan is the last person we want to see here at this time," gritted an Algerian official. "But he will be treated as a guest should."

When Hassan landed in Algiers last week, his reception was less than overwhelming. The Algerian honor guard wore sneakers for the arrival ceremony; Algeria's Defense Minister Houari Boumedienne, was in an unadorned civilian overcoat--no medals, no epaulets--and kept it on even at a state reception that evening. Though Hassan is about as interested in socialism as Louis XIV was, his hosts insisted on showing him one state farm and socialist work project after another. At the end of three days, Hassan wore a fixed smile that seemed cemented to his face.

Even on the playing fields, Hassan's visit was a bust; his Moroccan army soccer team was only able to manage a tie with the Algerian squad. Next day, Hassan presented Ben Bella with a gift of a house trailer; all the guest got was a bill for staging the game--stadium rental, bus rental, and the cost of printing the programs. And when it came time to settle the hotel bill, Hassan's hosts pointedly looked the other way; by prior agreement, Hassan footed the bill for his entire no-man entourage.

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