Softhearted Zaim

At Mahanaim, in Galilee, near the place where Jacob once wrestled all night with an angel, Syrian and Israeli representatives met last week, after 3 1/2 months of haggling, to conclude an armistice on the last active front of the Palestine war.

For Israel, the chief fruit of the armistice was the promise that Arab soldiers finally would be withdrawn from all the territory allocated to her under the U.N. partition plan. For Syria, the armistice meant that paunchy little Dictator Husni Zaim could throw himself wholeheartedly into his pet project--proving that he is not a dictator.

Armored Jeeps. In the four months since he came to power in a bloodless military coup (TIME, April 11), Husni Zaim, an ex-Turkish army officer, has exhibited many of the trappings of a dyed-in-the-wool dictator--personal bodyguards, an extensive repertory of uniforms and a smoothly clicking propaganda machine. But in at least one respect, he was different: his soft heart treated bitter political enemies with relative leniency. Last week, even fumbling old Shukri el-Kuwatly, whom Zaim had deposed as President, had been permitted to leave his guarded hospital cot for a "complete rest" in Switzerland.

Last month, Zaim legalized his coup by getting himself "elected" President of the Syrian Republic. He celebrated his victory by promoting himself to the rank of marshal and holding a reception for the diplomatic corps.

Next day he was back at work behind his big oak desk in a huge, paneled room in the Ministry of Defense. He is easily accessible for interviews, at which he does nearly all the talking--in French, with a rasping Turkish accent. Midnight strollers in Damascus often see Zaim's Cadillac, preceded and followed by armored jeeps and outriders, speeding home from the Defense Ministry to the dictator's pretty young wife and two children (she is about to have a third).

Zaim's model seems to be neither Mussolini nor Franco, but Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the maker of modern Turkey. Damascus, until recently one of the most orthodox Moslem capitals in the Middle East, is yielding fast to modern influences. Zaim helped show the way by taking his wife to a cocktail party--a step almost unheard of in Syria. The Moslem veil for women is gradually disappearing and the men's traditional tarbush (red fez) has been going out of style ever since Zaim began appearing at official ceremonies without it.

Palatable Rations. Zaim already has completed agreements with U.S. and British oil companies for pipelines through Syria, and has reorganized his army, originally a small, poorly equipped mob of misfits, to a reasonably efficient force of some 27,000. The soldier's pay ($3 a month) is about to be raised, and, for the first time since anybody can remember, army rations are palatable.

Even a softhearted dictator, however, has his enemies. Two of Zaim's are Nuri Said, Premier of Iraq, and King Abdullah of Jordan. Both have long cast covetous eyes on Syria as a desirable part of their respective schemes for an Arab federation. Zaim himself favors a revitalized Arab League, but would prefer to boss it himself. With the Palestine war over, his chances of doing just that seemed to be looking up.

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