National Affairs: VISITOR: MOHAMMED V

Arriving in the U.S. this week for talks with President Eisenhower as well as a two-week tourist’s-eye peek at the nation: Mohammed V, 48, King of Morocco:

Early Life. Married for the first time at 16. he was enthroned by the French at 18, soon surprised them by showing his independence: spiritual as well as political leader of more than 8,000.000 Moslems, he remained faithful to the Koran while amplifying some of its ancient dictates (e.g., by promoting woman suffrage), welcomed progress in public works, education. True to tradition, in his youth he also collected guns, race horses, cars, took a second wife.

Political Life. After World War II. as more and more of Morocco’s independence leaders succeeded in shaking the French applecart, Mohammed became increasingly dangerous to French influence, was summarily exiled in 1953 to Corsica, then Madagascar (along with his wives, five children). After rebellion flared in Morocco, the French were forced to bring him back in 1955, to the song of triumph from his own people. Thereupon he set out on a program toward constitutional monarchy. Though still autocratic in his ways, he has inspired modernization of his people and the country, remained devoted to the West (if not wholeheartedly to France). In this, he shunned Egypt’s Nasser & Co. in their noisy pan-Arabism and holy-war complex against Israel, yet stepped forward in an earnest attempt to reach some solution with Tunisia’s Bourguiba of the mess in Algeria (see FOREIGN NEWS).

Personal Life. Businesslike and notably hardworking, he runs Morocco’s affairs with a good executive’s cool hand and hot impatience with doubletalk (“You say what you have to say in five minutes.” explains one of his ministers. “He asks you a few questions—right to the point—and that’s that”). Though he is a tireless administrator, he enjoys his time off: a dash into the country in a Cadillac or Mercedes or Rolls, an energetic game of boules (lawn bowling) with a few French servants and friends, a simple meal (French cuisine) followed by an occasional American cigarette (he does not inhale).

Agenda. Flying into the U.S. with his two sons and a group of other dignitaries, Mohammed packed a load of gifts for such individuals as President Eisenhower and Secretary Dulles.

Announced before arrival was his gift to the U.N.: a one-ton cedarwood door (14 ft. by 18 ft.), richly inlaid with mosaics and semiprecious stones, inscribed with a quotation from the Koran (”Oh men, we have created you from a man and a woman. We have divided you into peoples and tribes the better to understand each other. Before God the best among you is he who is most pious”). His talks with Ike are sure to include: 1) the future of the $500 million U.S. bomber bases in Morocco, leased from the French since 1950, with no direct reward to Moroccans; 2) the problem of Algeria: 3) economic aid beyond the current $20 million program. After three days in Washington, the King and his entourage will visit Virginia, Texas. California, Nebraska (Omaha headquarters of the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command), Niagara Falls and New York City (ticker-tape parade, luncheons, receptions and a welcome from Mayor Robert Wagner, who snubbed Saudi Arabia’s King Saud last January). Morocco’s King has already let it be known that he wants to inspect such U.S. phenomena as the supermarket and the department store. The visit, he told his people, will be his first to a foreign country since Morocco’s independence—”the best proof of Morocco’s national sovereignty.”