MOROCCO WARRIOR'S REST IN THE 1920S, ABD EL KRIM WAS A GLAMOROUS 
NAME ON THE WORLD'S FRONT PAGES . A SMALLISH, DARK-SKINNED MAN 
WITH GENTLE EYES AND A FRINGELIKE BEARD, HE LED HIS RIFF 
TRIBESMEN IN THE LAST ROMANTIC WAR OF THIS CENTURY . IN 
THE U.S., THE VISION OF KRIM'S SNOW-WHITE TURBAN, FLOWING DJELLABAH AND 
SPIRITED ARABIAN STEED WAS PUT TO MUSIC BY SIGMUND ROMBERG IN 
BROADWAY'S THE DESERT SONG . IN NORTH AFRICA, HIS TENACIOUS STRUGGLE 
AGAINST THE ARMIES OF FRANCE AND SPAIN SENT A THROB OF 
NATIONALISM THROUGH THE ARAB WORLD . CLOSED CAVE . BORN IN 
THE RIFF MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN MOROCCO, EDUCATED AT A SPANISH SCHOOL 
IN MELILLA, A QUIET EMPLOYEE OF THE SPANISH MOROCCAN ADMINISTRATION UNTIL 
HE WAS 38, KRIM BECAME A REBEL WHEN THE SPANISH BROKE 
THE PEACE WITH THE RIFF TRIBESMEN BY SEIZING THE HOLY CITY 
OF XAUEN . IN THE SUBSEQUENT FIGHTING, KRIM WAS CAPTURED AND 
HIS FATHER KILLED . ESCAPING FROM THE SPANISH PRISON IN MELILLA 
KRIM BROKE HIS LEG AND EVER AFTER WALKED WITH A PRONOUNCED 
LIMP . GAINING THE SAFETY OF THE MOUNTAINS, HE RALLIED THE 
RIFFS FOR A JIHAD AGAINST SPAIN AND IN 1921 WON AN 
EXTRAORDINARY VICTORY AT ANOUAL, CAPTURING A SPANISH GENERAL AND 20,000 SOLDIERS 
MOST OF WHOM WERE BUTCHERED ON THE SPOT . IN THE 
NEXT FOUR YEARS, KRIM REPEATEDLY WHIPPED THE SPANIARDS AND NEARLY DROVE 
THEM INTO THE SEA . WHEN KRIM DECLARED THE INDEPENDENCE OF 
THE RIFF AND NAMED HIMSELF SULTAN, SPAIN SET UP A PUPPET 
RULER OF ITS OWN, THE REDOUBTABLE MOROCCAN BANDIT RAISULI. KRIM PROMPTLY 
SCATTERED ANOTHER SPANISH ARMY, SEIZED RAISULI AND SHUT HIM UP IN 
A CAVE WITH HIS HAREM UNTIL HE DIED . ARROGANT IN 
VICTORY, KRIM NEXT CHALLENGED THE FRENCH AND WAS FINALLY OVERWHELMED BY 
A COMBINED FRANCO-SPANISH ARMY OF 300,000 MEN LED BY MARSHAL HENRI 
PETAIN, WHICH BLASTED HIS MOUNTAIN STRONGHOLDS WITH ARTILLERY AND BOMBS UNTIL 
KRIM AT LAST SURRENDERED IN MAY 1926 . THE SPANISH ARMY, 
ONE OF WHOSE OFFICERS WAS GENERALISSIMO FRANCISCO FRANCO, WANTED KRIM EXECUTED, 
BUT THE FRENCH MOR GALLANTLY SHIPPED HIM OFF TO EXILE ON 
REUNION ISLAND IN THE INDIAN OCEAN . THERE, CONSOLED BY HIS 
TWO FAVORITE WIVES AND A MONTHLY PENSION . KRIM LANGUISHED FOR 
21 YEARS . IN 1947 FRANCE RELENTED AND LET KRIM BOARD 
A SHIP FOR THE RIVIERA, WHERE HE WOULD BE UNDER HOUSE 
ARREST . THE 65-YEAR-OLD REBEL JUMPED SHIP AS IT WAS PASSING 
THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL, AND WAS GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM IN EGYPT 
. SPURNED FORTUNE . IN CAIRO, UNDER NASSER'S PROTECTION, KRIM WORKED 
WITH OTHER NORTH AFRICAN EXILES FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF TUNISIA, ALGERIA 
AND MOROCCO . BUT HE WAS DISGUSTED BY THE TERMS ON 
WHICH FREEDOM WAS WON ; HE CLAIMED THEY WERE TOO FAVORABLE 
TO FRANCE . HIS FRANCOPHOBIA DEEPENED WITH THE YEARS, AND IN 
1957 HE WARNED THE U.S . AGAINST RELYING ON FRANCE TO 
DEFEND EUROPE, ADDING QUERULOUSLY : " I DON'T KNOW WHY THE 
WORLD DOESN'T CATCH ON TO THOSE FRENCH THEY'RE STUPID, WEAK, STUBBORN 
AND SELFISH . " AFTER MOROCCO WON ITS INDEPENDENCE, KING MOHAMMED 
V TRIED TO PLACATE THE OLD EXILE AND PERSUADE HIM TO 
RETURN HOME . HE SENT DONATION OF $14,000, BUT KRIM REFUSED 
THE MONEY AND THREW AWAY THE ROYAL LETTER BECAUSE IT ADDRESSED 
HIM AS A PLAIN SUBJECT, NOT A PRINCE IN RECENT YEARS 
ABD EL KRIM HAS BEEN CONFINED TO HIS HOME IN A 
CAIRO SUBURB, SUFFERING FROM RHEUMATISM, FAILING SIGHT AND HEART DISEASE, AND 
LISTENING GRUMPILY TO NEWS BROADCASTS OF A NEW WORLD HE DISAPPROVED 
OF . LAST WEEK, AT 81, THE LION OF MOROCCO AND 
SURVIVOR OF 200 BATTLES DIED QUIETLY IN BED OF A HEART 
ATTACK, LEAVING BEHIND ONE WIDOW, ELEVEN CHILDREN, AND A HOMELAND SADDENED 
BECAUSE HIS BONES WERE LAID TO REST IN A GRAVEYARD IN 
ALIEN EGYPT WHO YEARS EARLIER HAD EARNED HIS FOOTNOTE IN HISTORY 
. HE KIDNAPED A U.S . CITIZEN NAMED PERDICARIS IN MAY 
1904 AND HELD HIM FOR RANSOM, THUS TOUCHING OFF PRESIDENT THEODORE 
ROOSEVELT'S RINGING ULTIMATUM A MONTH LATER TO THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO 
: " PERDICARIS ALIVE OR DEAD ! 