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With British prompting, they thought, the Hashimite family was talking of uniting its holdings in a big Hashimite kingdom�a development which would rouse no enthusiasm in rival Arab states.

A Britain which was retreating in the rest of the world still held fast to oil, pipelines and bases in the Hashimite kingdoms.

Unlike most British officials, he openly plugs for a larger Hashimite kingdom.

If the Hashimites and their advisers who gathered in Amman last week decided on a customs and military union, it would be because the British thought the time had come for a stronger Hashimite state.

But last week, when Hashimite nephew Prince Abdul Illah, Regent of Iraq, went to call on Hashimite uncle King Abdullah in the dingy Trans-Jordan capital of Amman, many an Arab politician fidgeted.