The Return of the Magician

No wonder that Egyptians now refer to Henry Kissinger as "the American magician." On his fourth whirlwind visit to the Middle East since October, the U.S. Secretary of State last week managed to 1) deliver to Israel a list of prisoners held by the Syrians since the end of the Yom Kippur War; 2) persuade the Israelis to offer Syria preliminary proposals for disengagement on the Golan Heights; 3) restore formal diplomatic relations between Egypt and the U.S., which were broken off in the 1967 Six Day War. Shuttle diplomacy, it seems, is still working.

Before the trip, Kissinger was somewhat worried about how much he might be able to accomplish this time round. The Israelis are not exactly fond of the Egyptians, but they have an almost visceral hatred for the Syrians, who until last week had shown scant interest in any negotiated disengagement. But after a late-night meeting with President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Kissinger was authorized to take to Jerusalem a list of the prisoners of war held by Syria. This was a major concession for Assad: Israel had insisted upon having the names of the P.O.W.s before it would even begin to discuss disengagement.

Emotional Issue. Assad also assured Kissinger that Syria was prepared to fulfill a second Israeli demand: visits by the International Red Cross to the P.O.W.s to determine how well they were being treated under the Geneva Convention. The Red Cross has already visited the 386 Syrians who are P.O.W.s in Israel, along with ten Iraqis and six Moroccans captured on the northern front. Presumably, Damascus is confident that its prisoners are being cared for and will be exchanged in due time.

In Israel, the fate of the prisoners is an intensely emotional national issue. As a result, Kissinger's arrival from Damascus with the P.O.W. list in his pocket produced the warmest welcome he has ever received in Israel. Kissinger had previously informed the Israelis that the list contained fewer names than the 102 soldiers that Israel had listed as missing. To reduce the shock and bitterness, Premier Golda Meir's government abruptly changed its list of missing to 80 names. The Syrians, however, listed only 62 soldiers, which meant that 18 of the 80 were still unaccounted for; their status was changed last week to "presumed dead." Mrs. Meir burst into tears as she accepted the list from Kissinger in her office. General David Elazar, Israel's chief of staff, was also on the verge of weeping as he handed the list to subordinates to begin notification of next of kin.

Assad's concession represented a considerable step forward in what had been a stalemate. The Syrian President had apparently overcome considerable opposition at home toward dealing freely with the Israelis. Since Syria, unlike Egypt, captured no territory from Israel in the war, the P.O.W.s were Damascus' only real bargaining chip, and Assad had been loath to lose any part of his advantage so soon. In return, however, Kissinger promised firm Israeli proposals on disengagement. The Israelis, to begin discussions, provided Kissinger with what they called a "concept": in return for the P.O.W.s, they would pull back ten kilometers in the bulge captured from Syria in October. Assad rejected this first Israeli offer when it was put to him by Kissinger, but the refusal was good-natured.

Purple Line. At week's end, U.S. officials announced that Syria and Israel had agreed to send representatives to Washington within the next two weeks to negotiate a first phase of disengagement on the Golan Heights. The delegates will arrive separately and work through Kissinger, presumably because of Syrian reluctance to negotiate directly with the Israelis. "I don't want my son to be told tomorrow that his father was the first Syrian to sit side-by-side with the Zionists," said Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam recently. Even if the Israelis eventually give up the Syrian territory captured in the October war, they refuse to withdraw any farther than the "purple line," so named for the color in which the boundaries of 1967 gains were marked on Israeli maps. "To pull back any more," Mrs. Meir told her parliament recently, "would be to reward Assad for attacking us in the Yom Kippur War." It would also, Israelis fear, allow Syria to resume the shelling from the Golan Heights of Israeli villages that occurred frequently before Israeli troops stormed the Heights in '67.

Syria, meanwhile, demands the return of all territory captured in both wars. Last week, though, Damascus appeared to be more amenable to the idea of a United Nations buffer zone on the Heights similar to the one being set up in the Sinai. One major concern of the Syrian government is the 170,000 refugees who fled the occupied areas during the fighting and are now crammed into temporary housing round Damascus; they want to return home. Beyond that there is national pride. "If they give Israel Quneitra," said a Syrian officer last week, referring to the principal city of the Golan, "the mobs will be out in the streets of Damascus." Significantly, the Israelis hinted last week that the town might be negotiable.

At the moment, Israel is not in any position to offer too many concessions. Although national elections took place two months ago, Mrs. Meir has not yet been able to form a new government and has had to ask President Ephraim Katzir for a week's extension in order to put together a Cabinet. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, under heavy attack for his conduct of the October war, has steadfastly refused to rejoin the Cabinet. Thus Israel is still in a state of political paralysis, a reality that not only endangers Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy but might also, if it continues, trouble Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Egypt's military successes in the October war have given Sadat considerable power at home and a new voice abroad as a leading spokesman for the Arab cause. Domestically, he has used this prestige to work out the highly successful disengagement with Israel. It is proceeding so well that the unexpected "capture" of a busload of touring American Jews last week by Egyptian soldiers (see box) was resolved in good-humored fashion. During a side trip to Cairo by Kissinger, Sadat rewarded the U.S. for what he considers a turnabout in its Middle East attitude. He and Kissinger announced that full diplomatic relations between Egypt and the U.S. were being resumed. To mark the occasion, Kissinger presided at a ceremony at the U.S. embassy near the Nile, which for nearly seven years has operated as the "American interests" section of the Spanish embassy. The Spanish flag was lowered and presented to Ambassador Manuel Alabart with thanks, and the U.S. flag was hoisted. Sadat also issued an invitation to President Nixon to visit Cairo in April.*

Return to Jerusalem. Sadat continued to use his new-found charisma to strengthen Arab unity. He played a major role in Lahore, Pakistan, last week as delegates from 38 nations met for a quinquennial Islamic summit. As expected. Middle Eastern issues dominated the agenda. The Islamic leaders --including Saudi Arabia's King Faisal, Libyan Strongman Muammar Gaddafi, Algerian President Houari Boumedienne as well as Sadat and Assad--issued a strong demand for the eventual return of Arab sovereignty in Jerusalem.

They also called upon the Palestine Liberation Organization headed by Yasser Arafat to form a government in exile as the first step toward reclaiming land now held by the Israelis, including Gaza and the Jordan West Bank. Sadat also persuaded the Palestinians and Jordan to accept another resolution, specifying that both would get back territory captured by the Israelis. For the Jordanians, who have usually rejected the fedayeen's claims to the West Bank, this was a rare accommodation.

In the most dramatic event of the summit, however, Sadat was able to reconcile Pakistan's Premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Bangladesh Premier Sheik Mujibur Rahman, who have been enemies since Bangladesh split off from Pakistan two years ago. Bhutto solemnly recognized the independence of Pakistan's former east wing, while Sheik Mujib hinted that he will no longer press wartime atrocity charges against 195 Pakistani officers held prisoner in India. Mujib promised also to do "my bit" to reconcile Pakistan and India, a task that would tax even Henry Kissinger.

*lf he accepts, Nixon will be the first American President to visit Cairo since Franklin Roosevelt's wartime trip in November 1943. Roosevelt met there with Winston Churchill in preparation for the Teheran conference.

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