Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef

Tween Morocco And

Hiti

[?] Ultimate Fate of Ex-Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef

HE people of Tahiti must have watched recent developments in North Africa with a certain n amusement. They saw the ious Sultan, Sidi Mohammed Youssef, restored to the rone of Morocco. .ccording to official statements de early in 1955, ex-Sultan ben issef then was headed for the ith Pacific, as an honoured >oner of the French, and was ected to make his permanent ae in Tahiti.

'ahiti was thus to be favoured ause, of all desirable French •itories, Tahiti was farthest away n troublesome Morocco, and the iblesome folk who wanted ben issef back again. [orocco, in common with most tish and French colonies, has a »ng nationalist movement; and years Sultan ben Youssef un btedly favoured the nationalists, :h to the chagrin of the French, inally, the patience of the French e way. They deposed the Sultan, . they sent him and his consider ; entourage—including three or r wives and a large gaggle of cubines—to a comfortable resi ce on the northern shore of the iiterranean. ut the nationalist sentiment in 'occo did not grow less; and ,lly the French held evidence t the ex-Sultan was in com lication with the anti-French nents in Morocco, and that the i-French Spaniards of Spanish :occo were actively pro-ben issef. o, without any loss of time, the Sultan was uprooted from his literranean residence, and trans ted by air—with wives and cubines —to Madagascar. ; was felt that, even there, he not far enough way from the nenting scene in Morocco. And the decision to move him on— i wives and concubines —to dti, was made, and announced.

LHITI got quite a kick out of it. Tahiti, though geographically isolated, is by no means ophisticated. ut, among all the unconventional ionaires, and yachting lovers, common escapists who have de temporarily in Tahiti, there er has been a North African larch with a plurality of wives a handsome team of cubines. ahiti’s enterprising Tourist eau felt that the Moroccan ex on’s residence would add con

tourist attractions.

But the months passed, and there was no more word of Sidi Mahommed ben Youssef; and no explanation of the delay.

The PIM guessed that there was a real problem of transportation:

How did one convey, from Mada gascar to Tahiti, in proper dignity and style, and reasonable economy, the entourage of an ex-Sultan. of Morocco. The PIM tried to find out from French officialdom when the ex-Sultan would arrive: but French officialdom was elusive and uncommunicative.

NOW, of course, we know what happened. The removal of Sidi Mahommed ben Youssef from his palace in Rabat, and the installation there of the more amenable Sultan Moulay ben Arafa, had achieved nothing, except even more subversion. The Moroccans’ voices increased slowly and steadily

in volume: they said they wanted Sidi ben Youssef back again.

The French are having all the bad luck in the world in the administration of their colonial empire in this post-war period of aggressive nationalism. But they are no fools. They decided that, while the situation fermented slowly to a show-down, they would keep the ex-Sultan right handy, at his not very-comfortable residence near Antsirabe, in Madagascar.

As 1955 passed, the Moroccan troubles quickened.

By the end of last August, the harassed Frenchmen were hard at work digging Sultan Moulay ben Arafa out of the Moroccan palace wherein they had installed him, and trying to persuade ex-Sultan Sidi Mahommed ben Youssef to drop the “ex”, and forget and forgive, and return to the Sultanate in Rabat.

And so it was arranged. Ben Arafa did not go without a struggle —but he went; and ben Youssef, with a “considerable entourage”, plus two wives and his gaggle of concubines (variously estimated from 5 to 15) flew from Madagascar back to Morocco, practically on his own terms.

There have been many disturb ances and endless argument since in Morocco, and a certain amount of bloodshed—Morocco is like that.

But the net result, as seen here in the South Pacific, is that Tahiti has lost whatever chance it once

had of cherishing a famous and amiable ex-Sultan and entourage.