MALI WHERE THE TWAIN MEET AT THE POST OFFICE IN TIMBUCTOO, A 
CLERK PUT ASIDE HIS FRENCH TRANSLATION OF A SOVIET NOVEL EXTOLLING 
THE RED ARMY, GENIALLY AFFIXED A MALI STAMP COMMEMORATING TELSTAR ONTO 
A POSTCARD . " WE GET LOTS OF AMERICANS THROUGH HERE, 
" HE MUSED TO A VISITOR FROM THE U.S . THERE 
ARE MANY OTHER VISITORS TOO . MALI, WHOSE FABLED SAHARA GHOST 
TOWN OF TIMBUCTOO IS THE NATIONAL ATTRACTION, HAS BECOME A MAGNET 
FOR RUSSIANS, FRENCH, COMMUNIST CHINESE, EAST GERMANS, WEST GERMANS, BULGARIANS, HUNGARIANS 
AND MANY OTHER BREEDS OF FOREIGNERS . FROM MOST OF THEM, 
MALI ACCEPTS ASSISTANCE . " ONE DOES NOT TELL A MAN 
WHO IS DROWNING TO CHOOSE THE BRANCH OR THE PLANK HE 
WILL CATCH HOLD OF, " MALI'S TOWERING (6 FT . 4 
IN.) PRESIDENT MODIBO KEITA EXPLAINS . SINCE MALI'S 1960 BREAKAWAY FROM 
FRANCE AND THE RUPTURE OF ITS SHORT-LIVED FEDERATION WITH SENEGAL, KEITA 
HAS BEEN REACHING FOR HELP IN A FASHION THAT FEW DARK 
CONTINENT LEADERS MANAGE TO DUPLICATE . TODAY MALI RECEIVES AID FROM 
NO FEWER THAN 13 NATIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE IRON 
CURTAIN . TRUCKS & PADDIES . TO MALI'S BACKWATER CAPITAL OF 
BAMAKO, THE U.S . ANTED UP $2,500,000 A YEAR . WEST 
GERMANY IS SUPPLYING 325 TRUCKS ON $4,900,000 CREDIT . THE COMMON 
MAKET NATIONS, AS A GROUP, HAVE FINANCED 19 MALI PROJECTS WORTH 
$17 MILLION . EX-MOTHER FRANCE POURS IN THE BIGGEST AMOUNT, $9,000,000 
A YEAR, AND ALSO PROVIDES 400 TECHNICIANS, INCLUDING 180 SCHOOLTEACHERS . 
THE COMMUNIST BLOC, FOR ITS PART, HAS OPENED A LINE OF 
CREDIT WORTH $100 MILLION, AND HAS 500 TECHNICIANS ON THE SPOT 
. RUSSIANS HAVE PUT UP NEON STREET LIGHTS IN BAMAKO, ARE 
ERECTING AN EXPENSIVE SPORTS STADIUM. FRATERNIZING FRENCH AND CZECH PILOTS HELP 
RUN THE GOVERNMENT'S MOTLEY AIR MALI FLEET OF SIX RUSSIAN-BUILT ILYUSHINS 
AND THREE VINTAGE, U.S.-MADE DC-3S . BULGARIANS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, ARE 
DEVELOPING TRUCK-FARMING COLONIES, WHILE SUCH DISTANT TYPES AS RED CHINESE AND 
NORTH VIETNAMESE HAVE TAUGHT MALIANS HOW TO OPERATE RICE PADDIES . 
A CERTAIN INDECISION . FOR ALL ITS COOKS, IMPOVERISHED MALI IS 
BREWING PRECIOUS LITTLE PROGRESS . THE CHIEF REASON IS THAT, WHILE 
TALKING NEUTRALISM ABROAD, AT HOME KEITA AND HIS UNION SOUDANAISE PARTY 
RUN A SLOPPY LITTLE MARXIST-STYLE LAND THAT IS DEEP IN FINANCIAL 
TROUBLE . IN LINE WITH HIS GOAL OF " AN ECONOMY 
BASED ON SOCIALIST PRINCIPLES, " KEITA HAS BUILT UP ONE MONEY-DEVOURING 
STATE ENTERPRISE AFTER ANOTHER . THERE IS THE AIRLINE, NOW IN 
DEBT TO THE TUNE OF $3,000,000 ; THERE IS THE STATE 
TRADING COMPANY, CURRENTLY IN THE RED $3,200,000 ; AND, OF COURSE, 
A CHAIN OF SUBSIDIZED " PEOPLE'S SHOPS . " SIX MONTHS 
AGO, EGGED ON BY THE COMMUNISTS, KEITA SUDDENLY BROUGHT OUT A 
PROUD NEW MALI FRANC TO REPLACE THE FRENCH AFRICAN FRANC IT 
HAD BEEN USING . OWING TO MALI'S NEAR BANKRUPTCY, IT WAS 
UNFORTUNATELY NONCONVERTIBLE . SINCE FEW FOREIGNERS WOULD ACCEPT IT, THE MONEY 
(PRINTED IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA) PROMPTLY WIPED OUT 85 PER CENT OF NORMAL 
IMPORTS, WHOSE DUTIES HAD PROVIDED THE BULK OF GOVERNMENT REVENUE . 
DEPRIVED OF THEIR GOODS, MALI MERCHANTS WENT ON A RIOTING RAMPAGE 
IN BAMAKO AND SACKED THE POLICE STATION ; TWO DEMONSTRATORS WERE 
KILLED, AND A " PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL " IN BAMAKO SENTENCED 77 
OTHERS TO PRISON AT HARD LABOR . BY LAST WEEK MORE 
THAN 50 OF MALI'S 250 MOST IMPORTANT FOREIGN ENTERPRISES, MOSTLY FRENCH, 
HAD PULLED OUT . THE TRADE DEFICIT STOOD AT $26 MILLION 
AND RESERVES HAD SHRUNK TO A MINUSCULE $5,000,000 . IN PARIS 
THE FRENCH LISTENED WITH ALMOST SAINTLY PATIENCE TO MALI'S PLEAS FOR 
A MASSIVE BAIL-OUT LOAN ; WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, 
FRANCE IS EXPECTED TO COME ACROSS WITH THE CASH . AS 
AN EXPORTER OF PEANUTS AND BEEF (ITS CATTLE ARE NORTH OF 
AFRICA'S TSETSE FLY ZONE), SELF-SUFFICIENT IN RICE AND OTHER STAPLES, MALI 
JUST MIGHT MAKE THE GRADE, DESPITE THE MARXIST TRAPPINGS . IN 
ANY CASE, MODIBO KEITA, LIKE MANY ANOTHER AFRICAN LEADER, IS STILL 
OPEN TO SUGGESTION ON WHICH IDEOLOGY IS BEST . 