The Late, Late Fuse

MIDDLE EAST

The menu listed such delicacies as Saliva of the Arab Rivers (consomme), Pearls of Kuwait and Casablanca (potatoes), Baby Lambs of Nejd and Kairouan, and concluded with Jewels of Jericho (fruit), and Aroma of Yemen (coffee).

This hyperbolic feast was placed before the princes, presidents and potentates of 13 Arab states by scarlet-jacketed waiters who marched in step as they served. Behind them stood Alexandria's pink-walled Haramlek Palace, and all around stretched floodlit lawns lined with palms and bordered by the gentle roll of Mediterranean waves.

Vicious Circle. The Arabs were met at another of their "summits" to seek agreement on a plan to 1) divert the tributary streams of the Hasbani, Yarmuk and Banias rivers so that they would no longer flow into the Jordan to be used by Israel, and 2) create a united Arab military force sufficiently strong to meet the inevitable Israeli attack that would follow.

As the Arab leaders came and went in long Cadillacades, Egyptian information officers boasted of unity and progress. But soon word of serious disagreements leaked from the white-pillared conference room. Not once, but three times, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser snapped to the delegates, "We are going around in a vicious circle, and this must stop immediately."

Lebanon's President-elect Charles Helou dragged his feet on diverting the Hasbani River, pointing out that his small, 8,000-man army was no match for Israel. Lebanon, Syria and Jordan were ready to increase their armed forces by 30%, as demanded by Egypt's General Ali Amer, commander in chief of the projected Arab army, but complained that they could not pay for it alone. Iraq's Abdul Salam proposed that Amer be authorized to move Arab forces anywhere in Arab territories during a time of danger. This started a wrangle in which it became very clear that many Arab states feared the arrival of Egyptian troops nearly as much as an Israeli attack.

Promised Cash. It was a common joke among the summit delegates that every time the subject of money was raised, Sheik Abdullah as Salim as Sabah of oil-rich Kuwait left the horse shoe conference table for the men's room. But last week Sabah pledged $4,500,000 a year for five years to the Arab war chest, and Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco and Yemen joined in, raising the total commitments to $14 million annually for the next five years.

At week's end, as the summiteers cried "Salaam" to each other and went their several ways, the fuse had been lit for the third round of war between the Arab states and Israel. It is a long fuse, and a slow one--so slow that it could easily sputter out before explosion. The diversion of the tributaries of the Jordan cannot begin until funds are raised and expensive dams built. What with Israel's threat and the violent disagreements that still plague the Arab world, it will be remarkable if a single gallon of the Jordan ever moves from its normal course.

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