Political Housekeeping

On all sides in the Middle East, the 90-day cease-fire that ended earlier this month became a time of military reinforcement. Now, with a second 90-day truce under way and their armories in order, the Middle East governments seem to be turning inward, taking advantage of the respite to settle long-smoldering political problems. Last week, from Syria to Egypt, a frenzy of internal housekeeping was in progress.

>> In Syria, Lieut. General Hafez Assad completed his swift takeover of the government--Damascus' 21st coup in 21 years. Assad selected a little-known schoolteacher, Ahmed Khatib, 40, to succeed Noureddine Atassi as President. Khatib's principal qualification appears to be that he is, as tradition requires, a member of the Sunni, the largest Moslem sect. Assad, who appointed himself secretary-general of the ruling Baath (Renaissance) Party, demonstrated that he was really running Syria by ordering the previous secretary-general and his rival for power, Major General Salah Jadid, into exile in Egypt.

Assad is as anti-Israel and as critical of the U.S. as his predecessors. Nonetheless, Washington warily welcomed his accession, convinced that he is likely to be less radical than Syria's previous rulers, whom President Nixon once described as "the crazies," and that he may be more ready to consider some overall peace settlement.

>> In Egypt, Premier Mahmoud Fawzi gave an interview to the daily Al Ahram, stressing the needs of the "ordinary man" in Egypt and concluding: "We must exert a tremendous effort on the domestic side before things start looking up for us abroad."

>> In Jordan, King Hussein is using the cease-fire to repair his battered nation in the wake of September's civil war, and to keep pressure on the Palestinian guerrillas. Talking with TIME Correspondent Dan Coggin last week at his Al-Hummar palace outside Amman, the King said: "What the people of lordan need most is a feeling that the country is moving ahead again under a strong, just and progressive government. If there had been a firm hand before September to deal with all the little mistakes as they built up into a crisis, the eruption probably could have been avoided." Added Hussein: "I hope all sides can avoid past mistakes and make it a turning point."

That seemed to be a fragile hope. Skirmishes between Hussein's cocky army and the fedayeen last week left 14 people dead and 69 injured. The guerrillas, meanwhile, were also mending their political fences. In September, there were eleven commando groups in the Palestine Liberation Organization under Yasser Arafat. As of last week, six had been absorbed by stronger groups. A new unified command, to be called the Palestine Liberation Front, is evolving under Arafat's direction.

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