Slain Jordanian Angered Many Arabs

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 28— Wasfi Mustafa Tal, the 51‐year‐ old Jordanian Premier who was assassinated in Cairo today, was one of the Arab world's most controversial political personalities.

To most of his countrymen, he was something of a hero as a symbol of the Jordanian Gov ernment's supremacy over the Palestinian guerrillas. To many other Arabs, however, he was an arch‐villain. He was called an agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency in Damascus, where he was sen tenced to death in absentia in 1966 on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the Syrian re gime, and was denounced as a traitor by the Palestinian guer rillas.

It was Mr. Tal who, after the commandos were sup pressed by Government forces in September, 1970, was largely responsible for consolidating Jordan's sovereignty. For King Hussein, who appointed him Premier in October, 1970, in disregard of the advice of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Mr. Tal was a tough and able administrator who was instrumental in pre serving the Jordanian throne.

Hostile Reaction by Sadat

After Mr. Tal was named to head the Jordanian Govern ment, Anwar el‐Sadat, who had succeeded Mr. Nasser as Egypt's President, recalled the Egyptian ambassador from Am man and refused to receive Mr. Tal in Cairo.

In commando publications, the Jordanian Premier was al ways called “Tal Aviv,” in consequence of the Palestinian belief that Mr. Tal had collab orated with the Israelis in suppressing the guerrillas in Jor dan.

Mr. Tal, who was born in 1920 in a small village in what is now the northern Jordanian district of Irbid, received a bachelor's degree from the American University in Beirut in 1941, and then embarked on a military career.

After having been trained at a British‐run military academy in what was then Palestine, now Israel, he joined the Brit ish Army. Then in 1948 he joined the Arab Liberation Army, an irregular force fight ing Zionist forces in Palestine.

After the Arab‐Israeli cease fire, he served briefly with the Syrian Army before enter ing the Jordanian civil service in 1949.

Headed Government 5 Times

Holding a variety of govern ment posts, from director of the Jordanian Bureau of Sta tistics to Ambassador to Iraq, he became known for his ab solute loyalty to King Hussein. At the same time, he stayed close to the Jordanian armed forces, and never gave up his military‐style haircut — close cropped at the sides—despite his British‐tailored tweeds and London‐made turtleneck shirts.

Mr. Tal had already served as head of the Government four times before his recall last year from four years of retire ment to undertake what was to be his last term as Premier. By then he had become known, in the King's words, as the “crisis man.”

The final crisis was that of dealing with the guerrillas. As head of a Government whose principal goal was to re‐estab lish order in the wake of the civil war between the Govern ment and the Arab commandos who swarmed over the coun try, he took tough measures, including the execution of guerrillas who violated the ban on possession of arms.

The success of his campaign provoked growing hostility. The commandos tried to strike at his Government by opera tions against Jordanian inter ests, including the hijacking of Jordanian aircraft. But this same success prompted Jor danian crowds to cry: “Jordan, Jordan, not commandos! Long live Hussein, Long live Tall”

Mr. Tal lived outside Amman with his Syrian‐born wife. They had no children. His manner was authoritative, and he was known for his quickness of mind and his indifference to the harshest criticism.