Trouble in the Jungle

The one Arab state which has been most faithfully in Nasser's corner, and has gone perhaps even further than Egypt to accept Russian help and direction, is Syria. For about a year 31-year-old Lieut. Colonel Abdel Hamid Serraj, Nasser-admiring chief of Syria's military intelligence service, has been next thing to king of the beasts in the Syrian political jungle. Last week, angered by his increasing inroads on their hunting preserves, and perhaps even a little disturbed by Russian influence, some of the older inhabitants of the jungle tried to run Serraj out.

Their decision to subdue Serraj dates from the Cairo conference of Arab leaders when Arabia's King Saud, fresh from his U.S. visit, pointedly lectured Syria's President Shukri el Kuwatly on the importance of fighting Communist infiltration. Emboldened by Saud's advice, portly, opportunistic Shukri el Kuwatly went back to Damascus, called in Chief of Staff Tewfiq Nizam el Din, and drew up orders transferring some 120 pro-Serraj army officers to out-of-the-way posts. For Serraj himself, Kuwatly and Nizam el Din chose an ironically suitable post: Syrian representative to the joint Arab military command in Cairo.

Colonel Serraj was not to be disposed of so easily. Rallying his supporters, Serraj last week massed armored units outside Damascus, threatened to seize the capital and arrest his opponents. At this news President Kuwatly was afflicted with a malaise so severe that he felt obliged to take to bed. This left matters in the hands of General Nizam el Din, who hastily deployed his artillery commander to cover the approaches to Damascus, and warned that he would meet any further tank movements with shellfire.

At week's end no tanks had yet attacked the capital, and, in open defiance of Leftist Serraj, Foreign Minister Salah Bitar announced that he had asked ex-Congressman James Richards, Ike's special ambassador to the Middle East, to visit Damascus to explain the advantages of the Eisenhower Doctrine. At this point, Colonel Serraj no longer walked like the undisputed king of the jungle.

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