Nebulosities
THE London meeting of the Central Treaty Organisation comes to remind us that Britain still has obligations in the Middle East, though these are of a consultative rather than of a military kind. The meeting produced disagree- ment on the appointment of a British general as head of the CENTO skeleton staff, as Pakistan and Iran in particular would have preferred an American for the post, thereby hoping to in- crease the American commitment in the area. However, a compromise formula now seems to have been reached, and Sir Charles Jones will probably take up his rather nebulous duties quite soon. In fact, CENTO's task is not so much military as one of security and the countering of subversion. Iran and Turkey have been in a disturbed and potentially explosive state for some time, and they have now been joined by Pakis- tan where the results of the elections show con- siderable discontent with the authoritarian rule of President Ayub Khan. In these circumstances CENTO can provide a useful framework for parrying Russian-inspired coups d'etat and for financial and technical aid to the countries con- cerned, but its foundations are still shaky.
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