EGYPT EVERYONE'S DELIGHTED AS THE TROOPS SWUNG DOWN CAIRO'S STREETS LAST WEEK, 
THE CITY GAVE THEM A DELIRIOUS WELCOME . MEN WAVED GREEN 
BRANCHES, WOMEN FLUNG FLOWERS FROM BALCONIES, GIRLS BROKE THROUGH POLICE LINES 
TO LOOP GARLANDS OVER THE SOLDIERS' NECKS, AND CHILDREN SCRAMBLED UP 
TREES AND STATUES . EVERYONE SCREAMED " MARHAB BIL ABTAL ! 
" (WELCOME TO THE HEROES) AS WHITE PIGEONS WHEELED OVERHEAD, HELICOPTERS 
DISPLAYED MILITARY FLAGS, AND MIG FIGHTER SQUADRONS THUNDERED PAST . THE 
3,000 TROOPS, THE FIRST VETERANS TO RETURN HOME FROM THE SEVEN-MONTH 
CIVIL WAR IN YEMEN, FORMED UP IN REPUBLIC SQUARE, WHERE PRESIDENT 
GAMAL ABDEL NASSER MOUNTED THE DAIS, ADVANCED TO A BATTERY OF 
MICROPHONES AND CRIED : " O MEN ! FAITHFUL SONS OF 
YOUR NATION, IMAGE OF ITS HEROES, VANGUARD OF ITS MARCH TO 
FREEDOM, SOCIALISM AND UNITY, YOU HAVE WITNESSED ON YOUR WAY HERE 
THE DELIGHT OF YOUR NATION OVER YOUR VICTORIOUS RETURN ! " 
THE SOLDIERS CLEARLY SHARED THE NATION'S DELIGHT, FOR EVEN EGYPT'S POVERTYSTRICKEN 
VILLAGES WOULD LOOK GOOD AFTER THE HARSH WILDERNESS OF YEMEN . 
NASSER'S 34-MINUTE SPEECH CONTAINED MENACE AS WELL AS HYPERBOLE . HE 
GOT DOWN TO CASES ABOUT HIS INTENTIONS IN YEMEN, WHERE, UP 
TILL NOW, EACH RETURNING BATTALION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY AN EQUAL 
NUMBER OF NEW EGYPTIAN LEVIES . EGYPTIANS WOULD REMAIN IN YEMEN, 
HE SAID, " UNTIL IT IS ASCERTAINED BEYOND ANY SHADOW OF 
A DOUBT, AND BEYOND DECEPTION, THAT THE REACTIONARY ELEMENTS HAVE, AS 
A RESULT OF THEIR DEFEAT, CONTAINED THEIR RANCOR AGAINST THE REVOLUTION 
. " HE ALSO SOUNDED A WARNING TO HIS BAATH PARTY 
RIVALS IN SYRIA, WHO HAD JUST PURGED THEIR REGIME OF PRO-NASSER 
ELEMENTS . BUT HIS WORDS WERE CURIOUSLY MILD . DURING THE 
TWELVE DAYS OF NASSER'S TRIP TO ALGERIA AND YUGOSLAVIA, RADIO CAIRO 
HAD MADE THE AIR WAVES BLUE WITH ABUSE OF SYRIA'S BAATHIST 
LEADERS . ON HIS RETURN, NASSER ABRUPTLY CHOKED OFF THE BROADCAST 
VITUPERATION . HE GAVE A PLACE OF HONOR TO A VISITING 
SYRIAN DELEGATION DURING HIS REPUBLIC SQUARE SPEECH AND CONFERRED LENGTHILY WITH 
THE SYRIANS UNTIL THEIR QUIET RETURN TO DAMASCUS AT MIDWEEK . 
HE HAD CLEARLY DECIDED THAT THE MOMENT WAS NOT YET RIPE 
FOR A SHOWDOWN WITH BAATH LEADERS IN BOTH IRAQ AND SYRIA, 
ESPECIALLY SINCE THE PROJECTED TRI-STATE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC IS STILL NOT 
FORMED . BUT THE FIGHT WAS NOT OVER, AND IF THE 
PAST WAS ANY GUIDE, IT WOULD NOT BE LONG BEFORE RADIO 
CAIRO WAS AIMING CURSES AT THE ARABS WHO STAND IN THE 
WAY OF GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . 