REBEL PARLIAMENTARIAN POLITICO

Assembly President Mangi Slim Family. Born Sept. 15, 1908, in Tunis, Mongi Slim (pronounced Monjee Sleem) is an improbable cross-breed of Mediterranean civilizations: Greek, Turkish and Arab. One great-grandfather, a Greek named Kafkalas, was captured as a boy by pirates, sold as a mameluke (white slave) to the Bey of Tunis, who educated him, freed him, made him his minister of defense. His paternal grandfather was an aristocratic Caid who ruled the wealthy province of Cape Bon. His mother was a member of the Beyrums, a noble Turkish family which had risen to prominence in Tunis, was famous throughout the Arab world for its learnedness in Moslem law.

Early Life. Educated at Tunis' famous Sadiki College, Slim was a fragile youth who loved fist fights (he usually won), detective stories (his hero: Nick Carter), and soccer. A brilliant student, he graduated at 16, went on to study law at the Sorbonne.

In his first year at Sadiki, he and his lifelong friend Mohammed ben Hamouda had joined an anti-French demonstration through the streets of Tunis. Recalls Hamouda, now a pharmacist in Tunis: "We were finally rounded up, given a good spanking, and sent home. But this made a profound impression on Slim. From that time on, his life was politics."

In Paris, the two friends met a fellow student named Habib Bourguiba, and the three spent hours talking about independence. Says Hamouda: "Slim rarely went out, but hundreds of students dropped by to see him. He was a great help to the Algerians and was always preaching unity in the North African struggle." In 1936, at the age of 28, Slim returned to Tunis, with Bourguiba founded the Neo Destour Party, dedicated to liberation from France. He fell in love with a young Tunisian girl, but suddenly broke with her. Explains a friend: "After much thought he decided one can't go to jail and get married at the same time, so he chose jail instead." In April 1938 Slim, Bourguiba and all other Neo Destour party leaders were jailed for participating in a wild demonstration in which 50 Tunisians were killed. Eventually sent to Marseille's Fort de Venciat Prison, he was released by the Germans in 1943. Says he, almost proudly: "It didn't leave me with hatred for the people who imprisoned me."

Political Career. At war's end, Slim plunged deeper than ever into the struggle for liberation. As political director of Neo Destour. for nine years he traveled tirelessly and worked secretly setting up nationalist movement units all over the country. His black Citroen (license No. 225) was featured on so many French police posters that it became famous throughout Tunisia. The French caught him in 1952, jailed him for two years, released him just in time to assist Bourguiba in the 1954 independence negotiations with French Prime Minister Pierre Mendes-France. He became Bourguiba's first Minister of the Interior, worked hard to prepare Tunisia for full independence. When it was granted on March 20, 1956, Bourguiba named Slim Ambassador to the U.S. and Canada and permanent delegate to the United Nations.

Personality & U.N. Role. A pale, smiling, bouncy man of 5 ft. 2 in., Slim can drink 40 cups of coffee a day, smokes three packs of cigarettes a day, but as a Moslem never drinks alcohol or eats pork. Widely regarded as Bourguiba's logical successor, Slim has managed to stay above Tunisia's political infighting, but is running into increasing criticism from young intellectuals back home; they regard him as seductive but not brilliant, clever at soothing ruffled feathers, but unwilling to make decisions.

His record at the U.N. is eloquent evidence against such charges: last year he distinguished himself by 1) delivering the support of the Afro-Asian nations for U.N. intervention in the Congo, 2) leading a drive in the Security Council to ease tensions during the U-2 crisis. Last week, in his speech accepting his election as president of the General Assembly, he showed himself willing to attack as well as soothe. In a direct slam at the South African delegation, he said: "Peace will be constantly threatened if the hideous specter of racism is not banished forever. The peoples of South Africa must achieve the full enjoyment of their rights and dignity in their own country." Slim's main talent however, is his brilliant corridor politics. Says one associate: "Slim has the rare ability to get other people to do what he wants by gentle, firm pressure."

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