GREATER CALM

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 272, 16 November 1943, Page 3

GREATER CALM

BRITISH PRESS VIEWS

"Air Has Been Cleared By Plain Speaking" N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 11 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 15. "Greater calm seems to prevail in Lebanon," says The Times diplomatic correspondent. "This should ease the task for General Catroux, the far-sighted, patient negotiator, who in 1941, in the name of General de Gaulle, promised the Lebanese and their neighbours, the Syrians, their independence." The writer adds that the air has been cleared by plain speaking by the British Government and some explanations by the French Committee. It has been established that General Helleu, the French delegate in Lebanon, took the final steps and arrested the Lebanese leaders without reference to the committee. The hard kernel of the dispute between the French authorities and the Lebanese leaders is that the committee as the trustee for France is still enslaved and says it cannot abolish one of France's mandates. Allies Not Consulted The Allies complain that they were not consulted in a problem in which they are concerned for every reason of military security. The Observer, in a leading article, says the President and Prime Minister of the Government of Lebanon, freely and legally constituted, blame General de Gaulle for the highhanded act. The Government suggests that a White Paper should be published at once, giving the full story of "our relations with General de Gaulle and not limited to the present crisis." The Observer's diplomatic writer says that Britain's response to the crisis is being closely watched by the Arab peoples. It will be taken as an indication of the manner in which Britain intends to treat its commitments and responsibilities throughout the Arab world. Test Case for French The Manchester Guardian diplomatic writer comments that the French seem inclined to regard the Lebanon affair as a test case provoked by forces beyond, as well as inside, the territory in which they are working for national and international reorganisation of the Arab world. "It is difficult to judge the soundness of this point of view," the writer adds, "but it undoubtedly makes the position more difficult. But, however this may be, it does not account for the uncollaborative attitude adopted by the French Committee."