Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1946. SITUATION IN EGYPT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 191, 27 May 1946, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1946. SITUATION IN EGYPT

Britain undoubtedly has her hands full at the moment. Finality has by no means been reached in the Indian dispute; the AngloAmerican report has not got past the publication stage; and a hitch has occured in the negotiations for revision of the Anglo-Egyp-tian treaty. All this on top of fairly considerable internal disunion arising out of the Government’s nationalisation' proposals, particularly in connection with the iron and steel industry. The latest matter of concern outside the country is the temporary stoppage in the talks in Egypt. Following Britain’s decision to withdraw all her forces from the country, there was every reason to suppose that the talks would be conducted in a somewhat easy atmosphere, for there was nothing in the statement covering the .British decision to indicate that other proposals would be forthcoming which were likely to be the cause of considerable delay. The Egyptian people themselves apparently, were lulled into a feeling of more or less false security by the withdrawal declaration, and now their hopeful speculation has been rudely shattered by the proposed British draft, which, though it has not been published, apparently aims at the imposition of obligations more far- reaching than those of the 1936 treaty.

Egypt desires complete independence, and this, it would seem, Britain is not altogether prepared for. Some idea of the desire of Egyptians for the complete evacuation of the British may be gained from a statement by a British writer, who asserts that British power in Egypt has been exercised only anti-socially. Poverty, disease and illiteracy are widespread in the country, and it is the opinion of the young middle-class Egyptian, at all events, that nothing can be done to combat this until independence is secured. It is the belief of many of these people that the British Embassy is opposed to every attempt at social reform, as England -can exercise control more easily when the people are ignorant and weak. These views, naturally, will be hotly contested on the British side, but it cannot be denied that most of the trouble which has been fomented in the country has come from the class referred to. The British forces have been looked on as a source of irritation, and British power has been regarded as a threat to the stability of the Government. Thus it is that the educated middle class, on whom, the future of Egypt depends, is united in holding that the complete evacuation of British forces in the shortest possible time is essential to the raising of the deplorably low standard of living of the people. Having made her decision to withdraw, whether rightly or wrongly, it is incumbent on Britain to make good her decision, and until this is done, it seems unlikely that the class which now seems to hold so much power will even parley. Even less will they come to a settlement it the new proposals, as suggested, are m some respects worse than Occupation. ______