MOVE WELCOMED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22241, 29 January 1947, Page 5

MOVE WELCOMED

TREATY REFERENCE TO U.N. STUDY OF WHOLE ISSUE (9 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 28. It is still not clear on what grounds Egypt will seek to persuade the Security Council to take cognisance of her differences with Britain, but, far from opposing such a step, Britain will welcome it as an opportunity of ventilating the whole issue, says the Times in a leading article. The United Nations’ Charter, the Times points out, rules out the Egyptian contention that the Sudanese can be deprived of their right to independence, which Egypt claims so emphatically for herself. If Egypt should seek to urge the incompatibility of the 1936 treaty with her rights as a nation, the answer is that the treaty was freely entered upon amid much popular acclamation. It is not a rigid instrument, but contains a liberal provision for its own emendation.

Teh years before there was any obligation on her to do so, Britain showed her willingness to revise the treaty on all matters which do not betray the vital interests of a third party, and beyond that point it is certain that the United Nations cannot and will not desire her to go. The best hope for the establishment of that permanent friendship which the best interests of Britain and Egypt require is, the Times adds, that Egypt may learn from the United Nations that Britain is acting both fairly and generously, and that satisfaction of Egyptian aspirations cannot be achieved at the expense of the rights of the Sudanese.