Abortive Revolt Draws Politicians Together

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30289, 15 November 1963, Page 15

Abortive Revolt Draws Politicians Together

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) BEIRUT, November 14. Shocked leaders of the Ba’ath party controlling Iraq and Syria moved today to tighten their ties after beating back an attempted revolt in Bagdad. Meeting almost around the clock, senior officials of the party studied how to undo the harm caused by the attempted coup plotted by one of their former comrades, Ali Saleh el Saadi.

The party leaders announced they agreed on practical steps for unity of the party and adherence to its internal code. They were the Iraqi Premier, Ahmad Hassan al Bakr; the Defence Minister, General Saleh Madhi Ammash; the Syrian Premier, Amin el Hafez; the Syrian Army chief-of-staff, General Salah Jdid; the Syrian Minister, Abdul Khalek Nakshbandi; and the Ba’ath Party founder, Michel Aflak.

The embattled Bakr summoned them to Bagdad after loyal Ba’athists foiled the attempted revolt in two hectic hours yesterday. At its height, Iraq Air Force jet planes attacked Bagdad’s presidential palace and the large military base outside the capital, Camp Rashi.

A street mob gathered in the centre of the city to demonstrate against Bakr and Ammash.

About two hours after the attacks began the city was quiet, under curfew and under control. Last night the curfew was lifted. The reason for the quick recovery was that the night before, sensing the trouble ahead, Bakr and his colleagues had deported Saadi and his leading sympathisers to Spain. In Damascus, reliable sources said Iraq’s 29-year-old Interior Minister, Hazem Jawad, had engineered the ousting of Saadi and his friends, the Minister of Construction, Hamdi Abdul Majid, and Ramez el Sheikh Ali. Saadi, with Bakr and Ammash, had been one of the strong men of the Ba’ath since it battled its way to power by overthrowing and

killing the Iraqi dictator, Abdul Kerim Kassem, last February. Increasingly, he had moved away from the more moderate Bakr and Ammash and had become known as a ruthless exponent of the hard line against enemies, inside Iraq and rivals outside, like the United Arab Republic’s President Nasser.

The final split came on Sunday when an extraordinary session of the Iraqi Ba’athists was called by Bakr and his group to elect a new regional leadership. The move was aimed

specifically against Saadi, who until then had controlled a majority of the Iraq regional command. Saadi and his clique were thrown out, and on Tuesday night were put aboard an Iraqi military plane bound for Madrid. There, five of the 19 men aboard were allowed to remain—and reports here indicated that Saadi was one. With the party split between Saadi and the pre-

sent leadership, it will be more vulnerable for its numerous enemies. These include the Communists, the businessmen who oppose its Socialist doctrines and the large number of Nasser sympathisers in Iraq. A pro-Nasser radio, calling itself the “Radio of the Iraq Revolution,” tried yesterday to capitalise on the turmoil by urging the people to rise against the Ba'athists.