Word: kassem
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...logical next step in Premier Karim Kassem's squeeze on the Communists was to deprive them of the guns with which they might one day shoot their way to power. This he tried to do last week, ordering a three-year prison sentence and $450 fine for anyone caught with firearms in his possession. Doubtless many an illegal pistol remained hidden under mattresses, but at least Communist mobs would henceforth be discouraged from roaming the streets waving their weapons in open intimidation...
Though asked to lay down their arms, the Communists are not prepared to give up their struggle. They are in the delicate position of supporting Kassem's regime while trying to capture it. Last week, ignoring Kassem's pointed request that party activities cease, the Communists announced formation of a National Union Front, which includes themselves, fellow travelers from Kurdish parties, and what they called some dissident elements from the National Democratic Party (which had taken Kassem's hint and ceased politicking). On behalf of this Front, the Communists were once again demanding seats in the Cabinet...
...there was little festive mood in the yellow-walled Defense Ministry. There sat Premier Kassem, who had let the Communists in his entourage rise to power in order to prevent Nasserites from taking over his revolution. Now at last he saw the need to prevent the Communists from taking over the revolution in turn, and sought to create a third group in Iraq loyal to him instead of to Cairo or Moscow. Against the advice of the Communists, who cry for blood vengeance, Kassem last week continued to release political prisoners from jail, and declared an amnesty for all those...
...Next Kassem moved against the Popular Resistance Force, the Communist-backed civilian militia that helped the army and police quell the March revolt, then stayed on as "bridge guards" and "night security patrols" long after they were needed. The nation is now secure, said Kassem, and no longer needs such special forces. Kassem did all this in his usual indirect fashion, without specifically denouncing the Communists. He obviously wanted no unscheduled fireworks to go off with a bang before his own July 14 festivities...
...brigadiers belong to a familiar breed in the Moslem world. Like Egypt's Nasser and Iraq's Kassem, they are ascetic young soldiers resentful of corrupt old ways, antagonistic to the West, and impatient for change. In early March the two, Abdel-Rahim Mohammed Kheir Shennan, 46, and Moheiddin Ahmed Abdullah, 43, with two battalions of troops, quietly surrounded Khartoum, captured Abboud's No. 2 man and held him for 24 hours. Fatherly General Abboud, after hearing the two soldiers' complaints, dismissed his No. 2 man and appointed both Shennan and Moheiddin to places...