MIDDLE EAST: Out of the Woodwork

The day before the organized stoning of the U.S.'s William Rountree in Baghdad (see box), the Communist hierarchy in the Middle East met in Damascus, capital of Nasser's northern province of Syria. Arab Communists have become increasingly open in their defiance of Nasser. But they took a prudent step: they divided their Syrian and Lebanese apparatus, so that if either is broken up, the other will survive. The general party line laid down in Damascus last week is understood to have been decided at a conference in Tirana, Albania last October. It...

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