MIDDLE EAST SO NEAR, YET SO FAR AS JUBILANT DELEGATIONS DASHED BETLEEN 
BAGHDAD, DAMASCUS AND CAIRO LAST WEEK, THE ARAB WORLD WAS AWASH 
WITH JOY . CROWDS SWARMED IN THE STREETS CHANTING THE SLOGAN, 
/ UNITY, FREEDOM, SOCIALISM ! " IN CAIRO AND DAMASCUS, MOBS 
SHOUTED, / NASSER ! NASSER ! UNION TOMORROW ! " IRAQ'S 
DEPUTY PREMIER ALI SALEH SAADI CRIED, " THE ARAB WORLD WILL 
NOW CERTAINLY UNITE . THIS IS AN OLD ASPIRATION . WHAT 
IS NEW IS THAT IT HAS NOW BECOME POSSIBLE . / 
DOUBLE PATH . ; THE URGE TO MERGE BROUGHT SYRIAN AND 
IRAQI LEADERS FLYING TO CAIRO FOR 15 HOURS OF TALKS WITH 
EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, THE CHIEF BENEFICIARY OF THE DOWNFALL 
OF ANTI-NASSER REGIMES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA . BUT NASSER HAD 
CONTRIBUTED LITTLE TO THE VICTORIES THAT WERE ACTUALLY WON IN BOTH 
COUNTRIES BY A COALITION OF NASSERITE ARMY OFFICER AND POLITICIANS OF 
THE BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY, WHICH HAS LONG PROMOTED THE IDEAL OF 
WAHADI ARABIYA (ARAB ONENESS) . THOUGH BOTH GROUPS HAVE THE SAME 
GOAL OF UNITY, EACH PROPOSES A SEPARATE PATH . NASSER BELIEVE 
IN CENTRALIZE , AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL . THE BAATH PARTY FAVORS " 
COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP " AND A DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT . AS THE 
TALKS PROCEEDED, SYRIA'S DEPUTY PREMIER NIHAD ELKASSEM REPORTEDLY FORCED THE BAATHISTS 
IN HIS DELEGATION TO ACCEPT THE NASSERITE PROPOSALS ON A THREAT 
OF RESIGNING FROM OFFICE . TOTAL ADHERENCE . THE CONFEREES WERE 
REPORTED " IN CLOSE AGREEMENT' ON A PLANNED UNION THAT INDICATED 
COMPROMISES WERE BEING MADE BY BOTH SIDES . IF ACCEPTED BY 
INDIVIDUAL PLEBISCITES, THE UNION WOULD CREATE A SINGLE ARAB STATE OF 
39 MILLION PEOPLE WITH AN AREA AS FLAT AS TEXAS AND 
MORE THAN TWICE ITS SIZE, AND AN ECONOMY BASED ON THE 
OIL OF IRAQ, THE AGRICULTURE OF SYRIA, AN THE INDUSTRY AND 
COTTON OF EGYPT . THE AGREEMENT CALLS FOR A SINGLE POLITICAL 
HEAD (ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE NASSER) AND A CENTRAL PARLIAMENT BASED 
ON POPULATION, WHICH WOULD GIVE EGYPT A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY . THIS 
CENTRAL STATE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR 1) DEFENSE AND FOREIGN POLICY, 
2) A SOCIALIST ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK, AND 3) UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL 
PROGRAMS . BUT WITHIN THE UNION, EACH STATE WOULD HAVE ITS 
OWN ELECTED POPULAR AUTHORITY AND ITS OWN PARLIAMENT . NOT REPRESENTED 
IN THE CAIRO TALKS WAS PRIMITIVE YEMEN, WHOSE BOSS, ABDULLAH SALLAL, 
IS PROPPED UP BY 20,000 EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS, BUT SALLAL CABLED CAIRO 
ANNOUNCING HIS TOTAL ADHERENCE TO WHATEVER IS DECIDED . BUT AT 
WEEK'S END, THE REPORTED " CLOSE AGREEMENT " HAD APPARENTLY RUN 
INTO A SNAG . THE THREEPOWER TALKS UNEXPECTEDLY BROKE UP AND, 
ACCORDING TO A COMMUNIQUE, WILL RESUME " IN A FEW DAYS 
. " WHILE TRYING, AT LEAST, TO UNITE VERBALLY IN CAIRO, 
IRAQ AND SYRIA WERE STILL BUSY LAST WEEK CONSOLIDATING THEIR REVOLUTIONS 
AT HOME . IRAQ, WHICH HAS ALREADY EXECUTED 25 LOCAL COMMUNIST 
LEADERS, CONDEMNED TO DEATH ANOTHER 51 . IN FEEBLE RETALIATION, THE 
SOVIET UNION CREATED A SMALL RIOT IN MOSCOW, WHERE A CROWD 
OF SEVERAL HUNDRED STUDENTS (INCLUDING SOME FROM ARAB COUNTRIES) WAS PERMITTED 
TO BREAK WINDOWS AND THROW INK BOTTLES AT THE IRAQI EMBASSY 
. THE NEW BAGHDAD REGIME ALSO FINALLY SETTLED THE 18-MONTH KURDISH 
REBELLION BY REACHING BASIC AGREEMENT WITH KURDISH LEADER MUSTAFA BARZANI ON 
TERMS OF 1) AMNESTY FOR ALL REBELS, 2) RELEASE OF 2,000 
IRAQI SOLDIERS CAPTURED IN BATTLE, AND 3) AUTONOMY FOR THE NATION'S 
1,500,000 KURDS . IN SYRIA, TANKS AND ARMORED CARS WERE AT 
LAST WITHDRAWN FROM DAMASCUS STREETS ALTHOUGH PATROLS OF STEEL-HELMETED TROOPS STILL 
REMAINED . REPORTEDLY, ABOUT 1,000 PRISONERS JAMMED THE JAILS, INCLUDING 80 
LOCAL COMMUNISTS . SINGLE FLOOR . ARAB NATIONS HAVE OFTEN COMBINED 
BEFORE ON PAPER WITHOUT PREVENTING THE INDIVIDUAL STATES FROM GOING THEIR 
OWN ANARCHIC WAY . A SINGLE MILITARY COMMAND WAS AGREED UPON 
AS LONG AGO AS 1951 BUT NEVER IMPLEMENTED . THE NEW 
UNION MAY EVENTUALLY PROVE TO BE LITTLE MORE THAN ANOTHER EXERCISE 
IN RHETORIC, BUT LAST WEEK THE NEWS OF ITS FORMATION SENT 
A THRILL OF EXCITEMENT THROUGH PRONASSER ELEMENTS IN JORDAN AND SAUDI 
ARABIA, THE TWO REMAINING ARAB STATES WHOSE LEADERS ARE VOCALLY ANTI-NASSER 
. SOME PEOPLE IN THE ARAB WORLD PREDICT THAT REVOLT WILL 
STRIKE JORDAN WITHIN A FEW WEEKS, AND SAUDI ARABIA IN A 
MATTER OF MONTHS . JORDAN'S YOUNG KING HUSSEIN, DETERMINED TO NIP 
ANY PLOT IN THE BUD, SPENT LAST WEEK INSPECTING HIS JORDANIAN 
TROOPS AND WAS GREETED WITH CHEERS . JORDAN'S IMPRISONED BAATHIST LEADER, 
RIFAT AUDEH, BROKE JAIL BUT WAS QUICKLY RECAPTURED . IN SAUDI 
ARABIA, PREMIER PRINCE FEISAL COMPLETED AN UNPRECEDENTED SPEECHMAKING SWING AROUND THE 
NATION AND ANNOUNCED THAT 9,000 MEN HAD VOLUNTEERED FOR HIS NEW 
NATIONAL GUARD . KING SAUD, HOWEVER, PLAYED INTO THE HANDS OF 
THE MONARCHY'S CRITICS WHEN HE PROPOSED CONTINIING HIS EXTRAVAGANT FOUR-MONTH CONVALESCENCE 
(FROM HEART AND POLITICAL FAILURES) BY MOVING FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE 
FRENCH RIVIERA . FOR THIS WEEK, SAUD HAS MADE RESERVATIONS AT 
NICE'S HOTEL NEGRESCO FOR HIMSELF AND 130 RELATIVES AND RETAINERS, WHO 
WILL OCCUPY ALL 50 ROOMS ON A SINGLE FLOOR, WITH A 
SPECIAL ELEVATOR RESERVED FOR HIS PERSONAL USE . 