Syria: To Unity by Disunion

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In Cairo last week, Egypt's No. 2 man, Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer, stormed at a Syrian delegation: "Is Nasserism a crime in Syria now? If it is, how can we face the future together? If there are in Damascus people who consider Nasserism a crime, then how do you expect me to cooperate with them?" What set off Amer's flood of rhetorical questions was the threat posed to Nasser's dream of Arab unity by the gyrations of Syria's Baath Party leaders, headed by tall, lugubrious Premier Salah Bitar. The Baath leadership wants Arab unity as much as does Nasser, but it has refused to let the party be drowned in an all-encompassing Nasserite national front. The conflict became acute last month when the regime began purging the Syrian army of pro-Nasser officers and noncoms. In retaliation, six Nasserite Cabinet Ministers resigned. While students staged sit-ins in the schools, pro-Nasser mobs poured into the streets of Damascus and Aleppo, where scores of demonstrators were killed or wounded battling soldiers and police. As the violence in the streets grew worse, the Baath leaders faced the prospect of destroying Arab unity and lowering the prestige of their party. Last week harassed, mournful Premier Bitar finally gave in and resigned to be replaced by a compromise candidate, Dr. Sami Jundi, 40, a dentist from Hama who was previously Minister of Guidance and Culture. There was some possibility that the new Premier might be acceptable to both sides: to the Baathists because Jundi was once a party member and had stood by the government; to the Nasserites because he has been a longtime admirer of Egypt's strongman and believes in unity at all costs. At week's end, the regime in neighboring Iraq was also giving ground to the Nasserites. The entire Baath-dominated Cabinet resigned, but lean, balding Premier Hassan Bakr was commissioned to form a new government, presumably one with greater pro-Nasser representation, which might forestall street demonstrations.