Rendezvous at H-4

H-4 is the British-owned Iraq Petroleum Co.'s ledger label for a pumping station in the Jordanian desert on its pipeline from Iraq to the Mediterranean. At this remote and inhospitable spot, in an air-conditioned concrete resthouse surrounded by nothing but miles of rock and sand, Jordan's young (20) King Hussein and his cousin, Iraq's young (20) King Feisal II, met last week to discuss the future of Jordan.

Though Feisal arrived in the company of Iraqi Premier Nuri es-Said, Hussein flew to the rendezvous (piloting his de Havilland Dove himself) without his Prime Minister. Having successfully sacked Glubb Pasha, symbol of Britain's long Jordanian dominance, Hussein seemed to be savoring his independence. He had turned down the invitation to join Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria in their Arab "neutral" bloc, and he had already opened negotiations with the British on terms that seemed likely to assure for the young king the continuing of London's $25 million yearly subsidy, and the presence of a British military training mission, instead of the outright British command of Jordanian troops that had so galled Jordan's newly developing national sense of self-respect.

But to keep his independence amidst the violent passions he had fostered in Jordan's streets, young Hussein will need all the help he can get. The ex-Palestinians who form two-thirds of his kingdom look to Egypt's arms and Saudi Arabia's gold to help drive the Israelis from their old homes. On the other side stands Iraq, Egypt's No. 1 rival in the Arab world. Iraq has the money ($200 million a year in oil royalties), plus the common Hashemite hatred that unites its King with Jordan's against the rival Saudi Arabian dynasty. After last week's desert meeting the Iraqi Cabinet went into emergency session to approve a $2,800,000 loan to Jordan.

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