BRITISH CONCERN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21260, 24 November 1943, Page 3

BRITISH CONCERN

LEBANESE CRISIS SOLUTION OF DISPUTE HOPES FOR~THE FUTURE (British Official Wireless.) (11 a.m.) RUGBY, Nov. 23. British views on the Lebanese .situation were explained in the House of Commons by the Minister of State, Mr. Richard Law, who said His Majesty’s Government had been gravely concerned at the development of the recent dispute between the French Committee of National Liberation and the Lebanese Government. Mr. Law detailed the course of the developments in Lebanon and reiterated the reasons for British concern at the dispute. The over-riding desire of the British Government, he said, had been to secure a solution of the dispute, restoration of calm and resumption of constitutional government.

“I am glad to say that the Lebanese President and the members of the Government have been released, tne President reinstated, and the French Delegate-General recalled,” he added "His Majesty’s Government welcomes these developments and at the same time hopes they will lead to further progress and the re-establishment of :i constitutional Government. The American and Soviet Governments have been kept fully informed throughout.” There is little inclination in Cairo and Lebanon to accept the measures announced by the French National Committee of Liberation as anything more than preliminary steps, says the Times’ correspondent in Cairo. Unless these are rapidly followed by arrangements acceptable to the Lebanese, serious trouble may occur. There is considerable Lebanese resentment at the French insistence on the word “mandate.” The Lebanese point of view is that the mandates have ceased to exist and the use of the term places the Lebanese in an inferior position. The Lebanese fully realise that, between France and Lebanon, there are special ties, but such relations must be on the basis of equality. Grateful recognition is made of the part played by the British.

Demonstrations are occurring throughout Beirut. The police are joining the crowds, says a Cairo message. The Chamber of Deputies has been occupied by crowds who were accompanied by a number of deputies. The new Lebanese flag is being hoisted everywhere.