Union of Arab Republics | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Waḥda, Ḥurriyya, Ishtirākiyya | |
 The 1972 proposedUnion of Arab Republics (red) was a new version of the 1963 failedUnited Arab Republic | |
| Language | Modern Standard Arabic |
| Establishment | Failed proposal |
In March 1972,Ba'athist Iraq proposed toEgypt andBa'athist Syria a re-establishment of theUnited Arab Republic, which failed in 1961. The Iraqi proposal was an immediate reaction toJordan's proposal for aUnited Arab Kingdom but collided with the already establishedFederation of Arab Republics and failed because of Iraqi–Syrian differences.
TheUnited Arab Kingdom plan was angrily rejected by thePalestinians, theArab League and theIslamic States as well as byIsrael. The Iraqi counter-proposal urged the inclusion of thePalestine Liberation Organization[1] (to fight united for the liberation of Palestine) in aUnion of Arab Republics instead and invited all other "progressive" Arab states to join.[2][3]
Libya, however, would need to be excluded. At least for the beginning.Iraq accused Libyanprime ministerMuammar Gaddafi of inciting Iraqi-Syrian conflicts while Gaddafi condemned the Iraqi regime for its approach to theSoviet Union and theIraqi communists.[2][4]
At the end of March 1972,Iraqi vice presidentSaddam Hussein led a high-ranking delegation toDamascus andCairo in order to promote the proposal. In Syria, Saddam Hussein metpresidentHafez al-Assad andforeign ministerAbdul Halim Khaddam, but Egypt'spresidentAnwar Sadat had already consulted Gaddafi in Libya. On 26 March, Saddam Hussein metEgyptian vice presidentMahmoud Fawzi in Cairo and on 28th he finally met Sadat inAlexandria. Referring to the already established Egyptian-Libyan-SyrianFederation of Arab Republics the proposal was rejected.[2][4][5]
However, Syria and Egypt invited Iraq to join the federation instead. According to Khaddam, the first step to unite an Iraqi-Syrian summit should settle the quarrels between theSyrian and theIraqi Ba'ath parties. In October 1972,Iraqi presidentAhmed Hassan al-Bakr agreed to Syria's conditions[2] and proposed to create an Iraqi-Syrian union within the federation[6] while Egypt and Libya had already announced to merge bilaterally in a closer union (also calledUnited Arab Republic) within the federation. Although further discussions were not held, in January 1973, Iraq assured Egypt and Syria its full military and economical support in case of anew war against Israel. Iraq's offer to create a Joint Military Command was rejected however.[2]
