Union Now

Verily, you are the people of one nation, and I your Lord: therefore worship me. --The Koran

Soviet-built jets flashed through Cairo's sky. A crowd of 5,000 packed the courtyard of the ministerial palace. The Syrian Cabinet waved from one balcony, the Egyptian Cabinet from another. And from a third beamed Egypt's President Nasser and Syria's President Shukri el Kuwatly. Then at 5:10 one afternoon last week, Syria's Premier Sabri el Assali stepped to the railing and from a green leather book read the proclamation signed by the two Presidents, declaring that Egypt and Syria had merged to form the "United Arab Republic."

"The first step on the path to complete Arab unity," shouted the Premier. Chanted the crowd: "Long live Nasser, destroyer of imperialism."

"We have formed a strong country free from the influence of foreigners," said Nasser in a brief speech. Orated Kuwatly: "A great day in the history of the Arabs, and a turning point in world events." For hours the greatest throngs in Cairo's history whooped it up as the Presidents rode through the streets, under triumphal arches decked in Syrian and Egyptian flags.

The Presidents went together to pray at Cairo's great Al Azhar mosque, where the imam, ending a sermon broadcast from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf, told them, "Bless you both. March hand in hand and lead a united Arab nation to glory."

The Plan. The proclamation united the two independent Arab states for the first time since Saladin (1175). The two nations agreed not to federate, as first proposed, but to merge. They are to become one republic, with one President, one legislative house, one flag, one army. The Parliaments of both countries are scheduled to meet this week in Cairo and Damascus to nominate a presidential candidate--expected to be Nasser. "I am pleased now to accomplish my national Arab mission and hand over this dear trust to President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the young enthusiastic Arab who is full of loyalty to the Arab nation," declaimed the aging Kuwatly.

Within 30 days a plebiscite will be held to confirm the President in office and ratify a temporary constitution covering the first six months. The new President is scheduled to take office before the end of March, and choose his Cabinet and a Governor of Syria for the six-month transition period. Next summer the combined electorate will vote for a permanent constitution and a Parliament. With Egypt's 24 million people added to Syria's 4,000,000, the new state will include more than half of all Arabs in the Middle East.

The Dream. The economies of Egypt and Syria are far from complementary. They are separated by 150 miles and Israel, their avowed common enemy. But the proposed state answers to the most emotional political idea in the Middle East--the cherished Arab dream that Arab-speaking peoples should cast off the artificial borders imposed on them by the colonial powers, and assert the essential unity of "the Arab Nation."

In pro-Western Lebanon, newspapers were quick to praise the unity move. In Jordan, where rabidly Arab-nationalist Palestinians comprise two-thirds of the population, wily Strongman Samir Rifai publicly proclaimed: "We support every effort to achieve this sort of union," then dashed for Saudi Arabia to urge King Saud to meet with Jordan's King Hussein and Iraq's King Feisal to form a counter-federation of the three kingdoms. Feisal was willing, but Saud was not.

Egypt is poverty-stricken; Syria is fairly prosperous, with a living standard higher than Egypt's, sounder currency and a more viable economy. But curiously, the initiative for merger came from Syria. The reasons lie in the tangled skeins of Syrian politics. Three weeks ago Syria's pro-Nasser nationalists became seriously alarmed at Communist gains, especially inside the Syrian army. Pro-Russian Defense Minister Khaled el Azm was talking of forming his own political party, and was given a good chance of supplanting the ailing Kuwatly as President.

Kuwatly's nationalists, who had always favored federation, suddenly realized that federation would still leave the way clear for Khaled el Azm to become President of Syria, began pressing Nasser for an outright merger. Nasser, who not only shared their misgivings but saw a chance to regain the Arab world leadership lost by his ignominious Sinai defeat at the hands of Israel, set one big condition. He demanded that the Syrians agree to dissolve all parties in the merger, and accept a single Nasserite National Union such as he has formed in Egypt. Kuwatly and other nationalists agreed. The Communists apparently did not dare object. It remained to be seen whether the Syrian Communists would be forced underground like Egypt's. "No Communist Party has ever dissolved itself before," said Party Chief Khaled Bakdash. "Dictatorships have on several occasions dissolved Communist parties."

The Russians were not happy about the move, and reportedly let the Syrians know that if their state was swallowed up, the promised Soviet aid program was off. Washington was also concerned at possible effects on the delicate balance in the Middle East. If Nasser had hoped to turn the Middle East's eyes from the Baghdad Pact meeting, he had dramatically succeeded.

As so often before, e.g., when he nationalized the Suez Canal after the U.S. rebuffed his bid for Aswan Dam aid, Nasser had counterpunched. But it was too early to tell whether this time he had counterpunched at the Western sponsors of the Baghdad Pact or the Soviet sponsors of subversion in Syria--or both.

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