CAIRO: Unless United States Middle East policy is based on different principles the Arab world “will be driven to Communism”, King Abdullah of Transjordan told a special correspondent of the Egyptian newspaper Al Misri… . King Abdullah said that now “Isr­a­­el” had been “flung upon” the Middle East and “this area resembles another Balkans”. A thousand Jews were entering “Israel” daily and if this immigration rate was kept up the Jews “will soon become a threat not only to the Arabs but to the whole world and disputes will never cease until they blaze into another world war,” he declared.

“The Arab countries must march under one flag towards unity and glory”, King Abdullah told the correspondent, “Egypt’s leadership might be profitable if proper methods are applied.”

“Meantime I do not see what prompts Egypt, struggling for unity of the Nile Valley to oppose Syrian unity — the ties binding the Syrian States are stronger than those existing between Egypt and the Sudan. []I do not believe in the emergence of a Greater Syria through force of arms but through understanding among its peoples”.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2024