TUNISIA PALS NO MORE ONE OF THE MOST PERISHABLE COMMODITIES IN THE 
ARAB WORLD SEEMS TO BE GRATITUDE . WHEN ALGERIA WON INDEPENDENCE 
FROM FRANCE AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF BLOODY WAR, ITS PEOPLE WERE 
DEEPLY INDEBTED TO NEIGHBORING TUNISIA, WHOSE PRESIDENT HABIB BOURGUIBA, 59, HAD 
GIVEN SHELTER TO 200,000 ALGERIAN REFUGEES AND PROVIDED A REFUGE FOR 
THE TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF 18,000 ALGERIAN FIGHTING MEN . BUT 
LAST WEEK, IN A SHOUTING, GESTICULATING SPEECH IN THE VAST CASBAH 
SQUARE OF TUNIS, BOURGUIBA SAID IT WAS " SURPRISING " TO 
DISCOVER THAT ALGERIA HAS " BECOME A RESIDENCE FOR CRIMINALS AND 
PLOTTERS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF TUNISIA . " HE SEEMED MOSTLY 
UPSET BY THE FACT THAT ALGERIA HAS REFUSED TO EXTRADITE ONE 
BOUBEKER MUSTAFI, A TUNISIAN ACCUSED OF BEING PARTY TO THE CHRISTMAS 
ASSASSINATION PLOT AGAINST BOURGUIBA (TIME, JAN . 4), FOR WHICH 13 
TUNISIANS HAVE BEEN CONDEMNED TO DEATH . BOURGUIBA RIDICULED 46-YEAR-OLD ALGERIAN 
PREMIER AHMED BEN BELLA AS " AN INEXPERIENCED, EXCITED YOUTH, " 
AND " A SIMPLE-MINDED PEASANT, " BUT CONCEDED THAT " NOT 
ALL MEMBERS OF THE ALGERIAN GOVERNMENT WERE INVOLVED . " IN 
ANY CASE, BOASTED BOURGUIBA, " WE HAVE ENOUGH POWER AND STRENGTH 
TO FACE ANY ADVERSARY . I DON'T INTEND TO KEEP UP 
HYPOCRITICAL RELATIONS WITH ANY GOVERNMENT . " AT WEEK'S END BOURGUIBA 
MADE HIS DISPLEASURE OFFICIAL BY SUMMONING HOME TUNISIA'S AMBASSADOR TO ALGERIA 
. BUT THERE WAS NO BREAK IN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, NOR ANY 
SIGN THAT TUNISIA'S 10,000-MAN ARMY WAS PREPARING TO TAKE ON ALGERIA'S 
120,000 VETERAN TROOPS . 