The Press TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1963. Nasser’s Diplomatic Triumph

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30107, 16 April 1963, Page 10

The Press TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1963. Nasser’s Diplomatic Triumph

The resurrection of the United Arab Republic, in a potentially stronger form, is a triumph for President Nasser, who seems to have outmanoeuvred the Syrian • nd Iraqi delegates in the unity discussions. He has apparently done so by not seeming too eager to establish the new federation. Instead of urging the new friendly Governments in Damascus and Bagdad to throw in their lot with him he let them do the persuading. Because of their insecurity they were willing to do so; and through his coyness and tough bargaining, President Nasser has succeeded in getting a much more tightly centralised system, under the inevitable dominance of Cairo, than had been expected when the negotiations began. Although the talking was done in Cairo, the key city was Damascus, where the Baath party and the Nasserists are fairly evenly matched. In Bagdad, on the other hand, the Baath is in the ascendant As so often happens in Arab politics, street mobs may have clinched the matter; they are President Nasser’s greatest source of strength in Syria. The new republic may yet prove as fragile as its predecessor, but the Middle East cannot be sure of that. After all, in spite of their disagreement, the Baath in Iraq, the Nasserists in

Egypt, and both groups in Syria have more or less similar aspirations. President Nasser, who may have learned something from his earlier defeat in Syria, is also playing for much higher stakes now that he has at last some effective voice in one of the oilproducing countries. He cannot afford to risk another collapse of his federation. His new authority can bring nothing but misgiving to his old enemies in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, particularly since he will be in a better position to support the republican movement in Yemen. This will also bring his influence again uncomfortably close to areas of British interest. He is likely to have his hands full enough in the east without attempting new adventures among the . powerful new nations of North Africa, though they, too, must be uncomfortably aware of his greater stature. Most anxiety, however, will be felt in beleaguered Israel, now threatened on two sides and by a nation with a disturbing new armoury of rockets. The Israelis may console themselves with the thought expressed in this sample of “The Conjuga- " tions for Conferees ” in the latest issue of the “ Econo- “ mist I seek Arab unity You seek Arab unity He, she, it, and they seek Arab unity (What, in the name of Allah, has happened to it?)