SYRIA: What the Army Desired

Long before the sun was up one morning this week, three carloads of Syrian army officers rolled through the deserted streets of Damascus, stopped at the home of Syria’s dictator, short, stumpy Husni Zaim. The officers awakened Marshal Zaim, told him he was under arrest. Then they sped to the home of bespectacled Premier Mohsen el Barazi, burst into his bedroom, took him from the house in his pajamas. Within the hour, a drumhead court-martial had sentenced both to death. As the sun rose, they were executed by a firing squad in the Mezze Prison.

That was the version given by the army “committee” under one Colonel Sami Hennawi, which led the putsch and seized power. Another report was that Zaim was shot down at his house when he tried to hurl a hand grenade at his captors and that 18 others died with him. Whatever the truth, Zaim and his premier were dead. Damascus also heard that Zaim had refused a blindfold with the words: “I lived bravely and I want to die bravely.”

Zaim had lived bravely, perhaps, but certainly not prudently. He had been chief of staff in Syria’s disastrous war with Palestine. After he seized power (TIME, April 11), he shot no one and jailed only a few, but in his 4½ short months of dictatorship he made many enemies. He offended Moslem religious leaders when he proposed that women give up their veils, gain the vote; he alienated the wealthy because he raised taxes, the merchants because he lowered prices. Nationalists were sore because he gave concessions to the U.S. Trans-Arabian Pipeline Co. and signed an armistice with Israel.

Syria’s new strong man was an old comrade of Zaim’s; both had served in the Turkish army, both had fought against Israel. Said a communique issued by Hennawi: “Zaim forgot his promises and started to extend his hands to the property of the nation and … to prejudice the noble values of the country . . . The population began to ridicule the army. Depending on God, the army is determined to save [the country] from the tyrant. God has ensured what the army desired . . .”