JORDAN: Signs of Improvement

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When things are at their worst in Jordan, Samir Rifai is summoned. But when the desperate hours have passed, rival courtiers and politicians complain against the tough little Premier's hardfisted ways, and out he goes. Last week, buoyed by a two months' world tour, full of cheer and confidence, assured of the U.S.'s continued $50 million-a-year financial subsidy, young (23) King Hussein abruptly ended the fifth premiership in 15 years of his able but unpopular strongman. It was a sure sign that the King felt safely past the crisis created in Amman by last year's murder of his Hashemite cousin, Iraq's King Feisal.

As his new Premier the King picked his court minister, tall, slim Hazza el Majali, 39. Educated as a lawyer, Majali is a Bedouin who grew up in a black tent and rode fiery horses in the desert. His appointment was a gain for the powerful Bedouin families, always the Hashemite throne's most loyal supporters.

Majali was Hussein's Premier for four days in 1955. He tried to lead Jordan into the ill-fated Baghdad Pact with the West, was forced from office in the rioting that followed. This time he promised: no foreign military pacts.