Word: baath
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...mellowing. A small but significant sign of this is the stepped-up travel of the country's stern, determined political leader, Saddam Hussein Takriti, 38, who in Baghdad is known simply as "the Deputy." That is an understated reference to his position as strongman of the far-leftist Baath (Renaissance) Party, which has ruled Iraq since its successful 1968 coup against the former governing military clique. A handsome, dark-haired onetime lawyer, Saddam Hussein is officially deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, under Field Marshal Ahmed Hassan Bakr, chairman of the council and Iraq's President...
That is quite a change for a Baathist leader. Since taking power in Baghdad, the secretive, bellicose rulers of Iraq had turned the country into something of a frightening enigma, even to other Arab nations. In the early years of Baath rule, spies and "enemies of the regime," including members of Iraq's persecuted and dwindling Jewish population, were executed and their bodies hung in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. Revolts within the party were put down in the same uncompromising style...
Abroad too there has been only partial relaxation. If Baghdad and Washington manage to improve relations, Iraq would still be left with two implacable enemies, Israel and neighboring Syria. Syria also has a strong Baath Party, which espouses the same principles of Arab socialism and nationalism that Baghdad does. But the two regimes have conflicting visions of Arab unity, compounded by some practical problems. Currently, Iraq's relations with Syria are at the breaking point over disposition of water from the Euphrates River. Baghdad charges that Damascus has deliberately stored up so much water behind its new Tabqa...
...Damascus, Syrian President Hafez Assad jailed perhaps 200 members of his own Baath Party amid dissident rumbles-including rumors of coup-against the longest-lasting government (4½ years) Syria has had since gaining independence...
With this in mind, Assad had suspected party dissidents rounded up on the eve of last week's Sixth National Baath Party Congress. The tactic worked very well. Assad, already President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the armed forces, was re-elected to the 21-man National Command of the Baath Party and to its secretary-generalship. That should give him a relatively free hand to pursue his policies-if only he can keep harmony within his own family. His brother, Lieut. Colonel Rifaat Assad, 34, who was elected for the first time to the National...