YEMEN: Junior on the Spot

There are no rules of hereditary succession to the feudal throne of the Imam of Yemen, and the reigning Sword of Islam wields it only so long as he can keep his enemies at bay. The enemies are many, the proliferation of pretenders spawned by his multi-wived Moslem relatives. But on his side the Imam has absolute powers : Macbeth's castle and the Borgia palaces were holiday resorts compared with present-day Yemen, where ten of the current Imam's brothers and most of his dozen sons have died violently in family infighting and palace intrigues.

Much of the latest bloodletting results from the aging Imam's efforts to make sure that his favorite son, Seif el Islam el Badr, gets the Imamate when the old man dies. Crown Prince Badr is a nice young man, introduced by Egypt's Nasser to anti-imperialist slogans and Russian technicians, but thus far Badr has displayed none of the bloodthirsty toughness required to seize and keep the Imamate. Three months ago. suffering from arthritis, rheumatism and heart trouble, the Imam traipsed off to Italy for a rest cure, traveling light with only one wife and one concubine (the other women in the entourage, explained an aide, are not his). The old man left Badr in charge in Yemen, and everyone expected trouble. Sure enough, trouble came.

No Pay. Recognizing that he may not be his father's child of terror, and responding to genuine pressure from the Yemeni population for an end to feudal tyranny, Prince Badr at once set about winning the Imamate in an unheard-of way: enlisting popular support. He began unprecedented weekly talks to the worshipers in Taiz's ancient Muzaffariya mosque, paid a surprise visit to an army barracks and ordered a 25% pay raise and free medical care for all soldiers. But before Badr could say "Reform," disgruntled troops mutinied in Sana, declaring that the local governor had pocketed the payroll. In a surprising show of initiative, Badr rushed to Sana, fired the governor, the army commander and the police chief, and executed nine officers.

Hopeful that this flex of sinews would be enough, Badr invited Yemen's more than 50,000 "expatriate brothers" scattered across the Middle East to come home and "participate by using their capital where it is needed." He also appointed an eight-man representative council of regional leaders to advise him. But Yemen's troubles had just begun.

No Encores. Fortnight ago in Taiz, a local judge dissolved the marriage of a soldier on complaint of his wife. The soldier was so angry that afterward he ran after the judge's car. Flustered, the judge ran him down. The dead soldier's comrades chased the judge to his home and began shooting it up. Surrendering to save his family, the judge was killed on the spot, and then, in that favorite democratic ritual in the Middle East, his body was dragged through the streets. In the excitement, civil control collapsed and the army last week took over Taiz, Yemen's second capital, and for good measure seized Hodeida, the main Red Sea port, as well.