MIDDLE EAST: The Federated Arabs

Under a scorching sun in Tripoli last week, Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi beamed as troops equipped with Soviet rocket launchers and Czech armored personnel carriers paraded past his reviewing stand. Overhead, eight French-made Mirage jets zoomed by. Gaddafi, a lean, intense Arab zealot of 29, was understandably pleased. The parade not only marked the second anniversary of his rise to power; it also celebrated the establishment of a new Federation of Arab Republics, which Gaddafi had been instrumental in founding.

One Flag, One Anthem. The federation will link the 43 million people of Libya, Egypt and Syria. The three nations will...

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