Coup de Razzak

The Middle East has seen just about every sort of coup, from ordinary coups d'etat to incredibly swift coups de Jarnac.* But last week Iraq's Premier Aref Abdel Razzak made coup history by trying to overthrow his own government.

Razzak had held the premiership only 18 days. Formerly a brigadier and commander of the air force, Razzak was appointed to form a new Cabinet on Sept. 6, the eve of President Abdul Salam Aref's departure for the Arab League conference at Casablanca. With the President out of the country, Razzak decided to make Aref's absence permanent. Backed by his newly chosen Cabinet, which was as strongly pro-Nasser as himself, Razzak ordered a tank column from the Abi Gharib camp, outside Baghdad, to occupy Iraq's radio station and broadcast "communique No. 1," announcing the formation of a new government pledged to instant union with Nasser's Egypt.

President Aref was gone, but his brother, Deputy Chief of Staff General Abdul Rahman Aref was not. He quickly rallied the pro-Aref forces -- and may well have had a spy on Razzak's team. At any rate, the rebel tank detachment bound for Radio Iraq was intercepted and captured after a brief encounter in Baghdad's streets. Other loyal troops surrounded the government ministries and arrested Premier Razzak and his fellow conspirators.

Within an hour, Razzak's coup was finished. He and his family were put aboard a plane and flown to Cairo where, after spending a night in Nasser's Tahra Palace, they moved into a luxury suite on the 19th floor of the Nile Hilton, next door to the suite of U.S. Film Star Charlton Heston and his family. On his way home from Casablanca, President Aref also stopped off in Cairo, perhaps to impress on Nasser the need for making haste slowly in ar ranging the eventual union of their two nations.

*Unexpected and decisive strokes--named for Comte de Jarnac, who quickly disposed of an opponent in a 1547 duel before France's King Henri II.

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