The Kings Meet

Torrential rains turned Baghdad's ancient streets into a morass of mud, splashed monotonously on the broad, glossy leaves of the eucalyptus trees that screen the chocolate-colored walls of Al Zuhour palace from public view. Al Zu-hour palace is the birthplace of Iraq's 22-year-old Hashemite King Feisal, whose line has waged a blood feud intermittently for over half a century with the usurping Sauds of Arabia. But last week, for seven busy and significant days, the palace served as a royal guest house for King Saud of Saudi Arabia.

In between a regal round of banquets and state feasts the two Kings, as well as Iraqi Crown Prince Abdul Illah and Iraq's staunchly pro-Western Premier Nuri asSaid, got down to the business at hand: Soviet penetration, via Syria and Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, of the Middle East. Saud, who mistrusts the British, watched parades of British-supplied military units, climbed aboard and peered through the hatch of a British Centurion tank. Probably the most significant meeting of the week was a private, unscheduled lunch given for the two monarchs by Premier asSaid at his yellow brick home on the banks of the Tigris. There was no public mention of Egypt's Nasser;* there was no need for it.

As King Saud prepared to emplane for home, he and Feisal drew up a communique hailing the "new era of cordial relations" between their countries, pledged themselves to "oppose all attempts at foreign interference." From Jordan young King Hussein sent a message of regret that he could not join his fellow Kings, a gambit carefully arranged in advance to demonstrate that Saud, Feisal and Hussein were one for all and all for one, but without jamming the distasteful news too forcibly down Nasser's throat.

At his first formal press conference in three years, Premier Nuri asSaid said flatly that Iraq would retain martial law--imposed last autumn after Britain and France invaded Suez--as long as the Soviet Union continued her attempts to penetrate the Middle East. Martial law will be lifted, he said, "when we see that Communism--or, really, Moscow--is going to stop creating troubles among our neighboring countries. I don't believe Moscow is going to stop creating disturbances, so we must be careful not to allow Shepilov, Khrushchev and others to deal with our safety, our policy." As-Said was riding high: months ago he was isolated, the only Arab signer of the pro-Western Baghdad Pact; now his rivals in Syria and Egypt were the ones isolated.

A reporter asked the Premier if he believed Nasser was aiding the spread of Communism. As-Said replied: "I think you should ask yourself that question. He has been criticizing me, but I don't want to criticize him."

*Who was himself entertaining Afghan Premier Mohammed Baud. They issued a joint communique praising their own neutrality.

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