DEATH, DIPLOMACY AND DIMINISHING PEACE

SOME time in the night, the eleven men--eight Jews, two Moslems and a Christian--were secretly hanged in their prison in Baghdad. Then their bodies, clad in the red jail uniform of the doomed, were hauled by truck to downtown Liberation Square, where a set of wooden gallows had been hastily constructed to display them. Next morning Baghdadis awoke to martial music and the shrill cries of loudspeakers and radio, urging them to take the day off to view the executed "Israeli spies." For those who could not make the trip, the government ordered the medieval sight broadcast on television.

Political executions are hardly a new phenomenon in the world,* and Iraq seems bent on making them as grisly as possible. King Feisal II was shot in

Iraq's 1958 revolution, and the body of Premier Nuri asSaid was dismembered. Five years later, another set of revolutionaries displayed the bullet-riddled body of President Abdul Karim Kassem on television. But last week's repulsive spectacle of mass public hangings provoked an international outcry. Pope Paul spoke out against the "abomination" and perceived a suspicion that motives of racism were involved." He had previously appealed to Iraq) for mercy for the condemned men, as had the U.S., Britain, France and Italy. They now condemned the executions as, in the words of Secretary of State William P. Rogers, "repugnant to the conscience of the world."

Assumption of Innocence. Iraq insisted that the hangings were purely an internal affair. According to Baghdad, the eleven executed men had been part of a ring that included another three--two Moslems and a Jew--who were hanged in the port city of Basra on the same day. The charge said that they had formed a spy-and-sabotage network reporting to Israel and the "U.S. consulate at Abadan" in Iran. There is no U.S. consulate or other U.S. Government office in Abadan. Baghdad identified the ringleader as Izra Zilkha, an elderly Jew who ran a one-room kitchenware shop in Basra and, according to the court, had been recruited as a spy in 1943. It was certainly not inconceivable that all or some of the executed men were indeed Israeli spies. However, in the past when Israeli spies were captured, the Jerusalem government either admitted their identity or else kept quiet. This time Foreign Minister Abba Eban declared that the accusations were "without a shred of truth." Washington agreed that the executed men were not in a position to spy for anyone. Throughout the world, they were widely considered to be innocent because the trials had been held in secret; if the Iraqis had had any really convincing evidence, runs one argument, they would have made it public.

It seemed probable that the executions took place mainly to frighten the regime's internal enemies. That assumption was reinforced by reports that Baghdad was secretly trying as "spies" 35 more, including 13 Jews, and holding hundreds of others in jail. They include former Premier Abdel Rahman Bazzaz and ex-Defense Minister Major General Abdel Aziz Uqaili. Also among them was an American engineer, Paul Bail, who was on loan from Esso to the Iraq Petroleum Co. Friends said that Iraqi police apparently suspected that an elaborate hi-fi set in his home was actually a radio transmitter. Baghdad later promised to be "tolerant" and said that "he may be released in the next few days."

Iraq's Baathist junta of retired Major General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr has become increasingly nervous and repressive since it came to power last July. It began with a "policy of openness," pledged to stamp out corruption, release political prisoners and welcome exiles home. But the junta had too narrow a power base to tolerate such liberal measures. Last Dec. 3, when the Israelis shelled and bombed Iraqi forces in Jordan, the Al-Bakr regime was quick to blame its growing internal troubles on Israeli spies.

In Israel, where flags flew at half-staff in mourning, Premier Levi Eshkol vowed that "the Lord shall avenge their blood." Israelis speculated on earthly reprisals, from bombing the 17,000 Iraqi troops stationed in Jordan to knocking out Baghdad TV. However, the executions presented Israel with a cruel dilemma: any reprisal would inevitably endanger the 2,500 Jews still living in Iraq.

Israel had another reason to heed appeals for restraint, particularly from the U.S. Any retaliation would surely fan fresh talk of war in the Middle East, and undermine the latest Israeli diplomatic thrust. It is aimed at countering a Russian proposal for a big-power settlement to be imposed on the hostile nations of the region. Such a settlement would protect the Arabs and presumably consolidate Russia's position in the Middle East. But the Russian initiative also stems from fear that any all-out conflict might involve the two superpowers in a nuclear showdown.

Presumption of Rationality. The Israelis see the Russian proposal as a trap, since any imposed settlement would put out of reach their goal of a peace treaty negotiated directly with the Arabs. In essence, the Israelis contend that their extended borders vastly lessen the danger of war: the Arabs are not in a position to fight, and Israel, with defense in depth, has no need to hit first as it did in 1967. Israel's argument is convincing, except for its presumption of rationality on all sides.

For the Arabs, the executions could not have come at a worse time. Said an Arab diplomat in Paris: "If I had to choose between the Old Ayrab image of fat sheiks and dancing girls, atid this new one of a fiesta of madmen dancing around corpses, then I would have to take the sad old image again." A Lebanese editor echoed: "What they did in Baghdad rubs off on us all." Other Arab countries failed to endorse the hangings, moving Baghdad Radio to complain that their "tightlipped silence" was "not natural." It was, however, diplomatic, since the hangings could only damage the Arabs' cause at a time when they hoped to find a more sympathetic hearing in Washington.

The executions came less than a week before the National Security Council met to review what President Nixon called "the whole range of options that we have in the Middle East." One likely upshot of the Administration review will be a new flurry of contacts at the U.N., where Special Representative Gunnar Jarring returned last week to his go-between role. But it is symptomatic of the Middle East that any peace moves could be upset by more hangings in Iraq or by an act of retaliation by Israel.

* In the past year, an uncounted number of Biafrans have been shot by the Nigerian army, and China has reported executing dozens--and probably killed hundreds more--of the most violent Red Guard leaders. Jordan executed two of its citizens as accused Israeli spies, and Egypt shot to death one of its own soldiers on the same charge. Cuba executed two "saboteurs." Poland put to death two of its nationals accused of spying for the U.S. and Britain. In the Far East, Indonesia executed three Communists, and Singapore hanged two Indonesian marines for an alleged 1965 act of sabotage. In Africa, Portugal executed an unknown number of rebels in its colonies, Rhodesia hanged five blacks in defiance of a royal pardon, and the Congolese government put to death Pierre Mulele, leader of the Simba rebellion of 1963-64, after he returned to Kinshasa on a promise of amnesty (TIME, Oct. 18, 1968).

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