A Preference for War

Peace hopes in Yemen never last very long. Two months ago, when moderate Republican Ahmed Mohammed Noman took over as Premier of the rugged desert land, hopes had risen that the three-year-old civil war might finally be brought to an end. Noman shoved pro-Nasser President Abdullah Sallal into the background, kicked the military fanatics out of his Cabinet and surrounded himself with civilians. Then he sat down to hammer out a preliminary formula for peace.

The formula was a compromise that would bring Royalists and Republicans into the government, and it won the immediate support of most Arab leaders. All went well, in fact, until Noman began filling in the specifics necessary for final settlement and ceasefire. When he let it be known that the 50,000 troops sent by Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser would have to be replaced by a joint Royalist-Republican peace force, the Nasserites suddenly lost interest in converting Yemen into a Noman's land.

Fortnight ago, President Sallal established a supreme military council designed to curb Noman's power as civilian Premier. After Noman flew to Cairo to protest directly to Nasser, Sallal threw seven civilian Cabinet ministers into jail. Last week in Cairo, Noman resigned. "It is obvious that Sallal and his cronies are more interested in war than peace," he charged bitterly, and other Arab leaders sadly agreed. As if to prove the point, Sallal lost no time in naming a new Cabinet to replace Noman's. The new lineup: 13 military men, two civilians.

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