YEMEN ANOTHER JOB FOR THE U.N . TO THE BLARE OF MILITARY 
BANDS AND THE SKIRL OF BAGPIPES, A TROOPSHIP LAST WEEK STEAMED 
INTO EGYPT'S SWELTERING SINAI PORT OF TOR . ABOARD WERE 2,000 
EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS, THE FIRST BIG CONTINGENT RETURNING FROM THE WAR IN 
YEMEN . ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF LIEUT . GENERAL ALI AMER 
HAILED THEM AS " VICTORIOUS TROOPS WHO HAVE ACHIEVED A 20TH 
CENTURY MIRACLE, " TO WIT : / SNATCHING THE YEMENI PEOPLE 
FROM THE PIT OF POVERTY, IGNORANCE AND DISEASE AND LEADING THEM 
TOWARD THE PATH OF DIGNITY AND DEVELOPMENT . " DOUBLE TROUBLE 
. THE RETURN HOME OF EVEN A TOKEN CONTINGENT OF EGYPTIANS 
WAS ACHIEVED BY THE QUIET DIPLOMACY OF VETERAN U.S . DIPLOMAT 
ELLSWORTH BUNKER, 68, WHO LAST YEAR PUT TOGETHER THE DUTCH-INDONESIAN SETTLEMENT 
THAT HANDED WEST IRIAN TO INDONESIA'S SUKARNO . LAST WEEK THE 
UNITED NATIONS ANNOUNCED THAT THE PARTIES EMBROILED IN THE YEMEN CIVIL 
WAR HAD ACCEPTED BUNKER'S PROPOSAL FOR A U.N . OBSERVER TEAM 
WITH A DOUBLE JOB . IT WILL MAKE SURE THAT SAUDI 
ARABIA ENDS ITS SUPPORT OF THE ROYALIST TRIBESMEN FIGHTING TO RESTORE 
IMAM MOHAMMED EL BADR TO THE THRONE HE LOST SEVEN MONTHS 
AGO, AND ALSO THAT EGYPT'S 28,000-MAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE PULLS OUT AS 
PROMISED . IN OBTAINING THE SETTLEMENT, BUNKER MADE THREE TRIPS TO 
SAUDI ARABIA AND HELD " EXTENSIVE TALKS " WITH PRESIDENT GAMAL 
ABDEL NASSER IN CAIRO . GIVING FORCE TO BUNKER'S ARGUMENTS WAS 
THE BASIC POLICY DECISION OF THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION TO BACK THE 
PRO-NASSER YEMENI REPUBLICANS AGAINST THE FEUDAL ROYALIST TRIBES . THIS DECISION 
WAS UNDOUBTEDLY CONVEYED, TACTFULLY, TO SAUDI ARABIA'S PREMIER PRINCE FEISAL BY 
BUNKER . UNQUESTIONABLY, NASSER WAS ALSO TOLD THAT THERE IS A 
LIMIT TO HIS EXPANSIONIST DRIVE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND THAT 
THE U.S . UNALTERABLY OPPOSES HIS STIRRING UP TROUBLE IN OTHER 
ARAB COUNTRIES . UPPERMOST IN WASHINGTON'S MIND WAS THE DANGER THAT 
THE FIGHTING MIGHT SPREAD INTO SAUDI ARABIA, WHERE THE U.S . 
HAS BIG OIL HOLDINGS . SWITCHED ALLEGIANCE . THE U.N . 
OBSERVER TEAM, WHICH WILL BE SET UP BY THE FORMER U.N 
. CONGO COMMANDER, SWEDISH MAJOR GENERAL CARL VON HORN, IS A 
DEVICE TO SAVE POLITICAL FACE FOR EVERYONE . SAUDI ARABIA HAD 
ALREADY BEEN CUTTING BACK ON ITS SUPPLY OF MONEY AND GUNS 
TO THE ROYALISTS, LARGELY BECAUSE EGYPT'S PROJECTED PLAN FOR UNITY WITH 
SYRIA AND IRAQ MADE NASSER FAR TOO FORMIDABLE AN OPPONENT . 
THE U.N . INTERVENTION ALSO GIVES NASSER A WAY OUT OF 
THE YEMEN MESS, WHICH HAS TIED UP A THIRD OF HIS 
ARMY AT A COST OF $1,000,000 A DAY AND NEARLY 5,000 
CASUALTIES . ON BALANCE, NASSER EMERGES AS A CLEAR WINNER . 
THOUGH PROMISING TO REMOVE HIS TROOPS, HE HAS THE PRIVILEGE OF 
LEAVING AN UNSPECIFIED NUMBER FOR THE " TRAINING " OF YEMEN'S 
REPUBLICAN ARMY . ABOUT THE ONLY GROUP NOT CONSULTED WAS IMAM 
MOHAMMED AND HIS ROYALISTS, WHOSE GRIP ON YEMEN HAS DWINDLED FROM 
HALF THE COUNTRY TO THE MOUNTAIN SPINE IN CENTRAL YEMEN . 
SOME 25,000 ARMED SUPPORTERS OF THE IMAM ARE STILL IN ACTION 
AND STILL DANGEROUS, BUT THEY ARE INCREASINGLY ISOLATED, AND SHORT OF 
FUEL AND WEAPONS . WITH THE ROYALISTS CUT OFF FROM SAUDI 
SUPPLIES, NASSER MAY WELL BE ABLE GRADUALLY TO CONSOLIDATE HIS GAINS, 
CUT DOWN ON HIS COMMITMENTS, AND ULTIMATELY COMPLETE HIS VICTORY BY 
ADMITTING REPUBLICAN YEMEN INTO HIS GRANDIOSE SCHEME FOR A NEW UNITED 
ARAB REPUBLIC . 