On leaving Palma the French air hostess, though noting with concern that Ben Bella had his revolver lodged in the seat pocket in front of him, maintained a superb poker face, chatting up the Algerians so as to distract them from detecting the plane’s change of direction, and announcing coolly as it began its descent: “Attachez vos ceintures et cessez de fumer, s’il vous plaît. Nous atterrissons à Tunis!” The Algerians were totally deceived. One of them, noting from afar the large number of figures on the airfield, exclaimed: “Why, they’ve organised a very handsome reception for us!” It was not until the instant of landing and recognising the French uniforms, tanks and armoured cars that packed the runway that they realised they were in Algiers, not Tunis. With no chance to resist, the five Algerians were led out by armed gendarmes to begin five and a half years of imprisonment in the Santé in Paris, then in a series of other French gaols and strongholds. Indicted for crimes punishable by death, they were given the status of political prisoners but were never brought to trial.

DEFINE: Describes the 1956 hijacking of a Moroccan royal plane carrying Ben Bella and other FLN leaders, rerouted from Tunis to Algiers.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 486