moreover, as soon as tunisia and morocco became independent from france in march 1956, both countries supported algerian rebels in their fight against the french so that algeria could become independent as well. they issued passports to fln representatives to enable them to travel abroad and to make necessary arrangements for the purchase of arms. egypt and the other arab states of the middle east also supported the algerian rebels. one of the purposes for the formation of the league of arab states in 1945 had been to allow independent arab countries to help other arab peoples achieve independence.