Who Is Boss?

The late El Glaoui, Pasha of Marrakech, was everything Morocco's modem nationalists despised. He was France's chief collaborator. For decades his Berber warriors had helped impose French wishes on the restive Arabs of the cities, and engineered the exile of Sultan Mohammed V. His power was feudal; his revenues, ranging from levies on Marrakech's prostitutes to commissions on every commercial transaction in his domain, had made him rich beyond any man's dreams.

Fortnight ago, five Glaoui sons gathered at Marrakech to divvy up the sprawling wealth El Glaoui had left. Reportedly there was $17 million in cash lying around the old mud-red palace. There were palaces and houses in virtually every major Moroccan city, stock in lead, cobalt and manganese mines, bank accounts in Paris, London and Geneva. The rumor spread that El Glaoui's sons were maneuvering to block a plan sponsored by Morocco's new government to redistribute the huge land holdings El Glaoui had amassed in southern Morocco.

On the Spot. All this was too much for the militant progressives of Morocco's dominant Istiqlal (Independence) Party. Worried about a nationwide drought which has cut food supplies, concerned over growing unemployment in the cities as French capital withdraws, the Istiqlal looked upon the gathering of the Glaoui clan as both an exasperation and an opportunity to divert discontent. Pointing to the "feudal lords" and "collaborators" driving their big cars through the hungry countryside, trade unionists shouted in the streets of Marrakech: "El Glaoui's wealth must be returned to the people!"

The Sultan was on the spot. Just before El Glaoui died last year at 80, the old man had groveled abjectly before the man he had forced into exile, begging forgiveness. The Sultan had granted it, and promised royal protection for El Glaoui's sons and heirs. But the militant Istiqlal had no such inhibitions. It called on the Moundamah Seria, an irregular secret police organized by the Istiqlal during the battle for independence. On May Day the Moundamah Seria's armed men moved. One Glaoui son was seized as he drove through the old medina. Three others were intercepted as they left the palace on the way to the golf links. Other Moundamah Seria soldiers swarmed into the palace, captured another son.

Taking Credit. The Sultan was appalled, and sent his Marrakech police to investigate. But the Moundamah Seria refused to admit them to the palace, refused to release the Glaoui sons until the huge estate could be examined and any fraudulent holdings returned to "the people." While the French government demanded the sons' release, the Sultan dithered, torn between his pledge of protection to El Glaoui's sons and the awkwardness of backing his feudal enemy against his Istiqlal supporters. The Sultan was reluctant to admit that he was not in full control of his young country. After 36 hours of hesitation, he audaciously decided to take credit for the whole thing. A government communique announced that the Glaoui sons "have been engaged for some time in antinational activities" and "have just become the object of administrative measures."

But Istiqlal Leader Mehdi ben Barka insisted that the Istiqlal had been planning the coup for weeks as part of its policy of agrarian reform and "researching the origin of wealth acquired by traitors." Though the Sultan had temporarily managed to claim leadership of the move, the ominous fact was that the Istiqlal had not bothered to let the Sultan know its plans --indicating a split between the Istiqlal's zealous progressives and the Sultan's slower modernism.

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