Air of Mystery at Casablanca

Manawatu Times, Volume 68, Issue 24, 29 January 1943, Page 5

Air of Mystery at Casablanca

REPORTED PRESENCE OP AXIS AND . NEUTRAL DELEGATES LONDON, Jan. 27. The conviction is growing among those who were present at the RooseveltChurchill Press conference that the leaders dealt with more than the “uncondi tlonal surrender” statement, says the British United Press Algiers correspondent. President Roosevelt would not have dared to risk a 6000-mile plane journey merely for a heart to heart talk with Mr. Churchill or to review past and coming events. The Anglo-American combined staffs could have done that without th presence of the leaders. An air of mystery surrounded the meetings from the start. There were rumours that Italian, Spanish and even Finnish and Turkish delegates were present. L is suggested that these representatives were not to be invited to join the Allies but were to be shown the might of the United Nations and left to make up their minds about which side to join. The Daily Mail’s correspondent (Mr. Ward Price) says that close observation of the personages principally concerned j revealed an air of secret satisfaction, | which was hardly justified by what wasgiven to the world. The importance oi i the meeting may yet be even furthei i enhanced.

The Star in a leader says: “We have some regrets about the conference. The long-desired United Nations permanent contact council is still lacking. In addi tion, something more definite than a hand-shake between French Generals is needed befoi-e the unhappy political situation in North Africa is straightened out.” “The conference completed plans for. the 1943 campaign, but has fallen short c the. prophecies coming from Washington in the past week,” says the Daily Herald. “Decisions have been taken ana announced in the interests of all. Yet the i impression remains that closer unification of strategy between Britain, the Unfteu. States, Russia and China is possible ana is urgently desirable.”

The New York Times refers to President Roosevelt’s visit to Casablanca as a bold and brilliant stroke of leadership. The historian writing many years from now is certain to conclude that Mr. Roosevelt’s voyage was in fact a token act that sealed the inescapable participation of the United States in world affairs. How Nogues Bluffed Nazis

The claim that he obstructed the German Disarmament Commission in North Africa for two years and succeeded in concealing much modern armament belonging to the French army in Morocco is made by General Nogues in an interview with the Daily Mail’s correspondent, Ward Price. The General added that not a single case of betrayal occurred and, as a x-e----sult, he was able after the Allied landing to send 15,000 troops from Morocco to fight in Tunisia, together with tanks and guns saved from the German confiscation. “I was able to keep Morocco free from German penetration so that it will now serve as a starting point for the canxpaign to liberate France,” he said. Attitude to de Gaulle

As far as the French press in North Africa is concei'ned, General de Gaulle might just as well have stayed away from the Casablanca conferexxce, says the British United Press Algiers col-respond-ent. The newspapers not only cut out his photograph from the group of Mr. Churchill, President Roosevelt, Genex-al Giraud, and himself, but buried in an inconspicuous corner the fact that he was there at all.

Evei-y Algiei-s newspaper cari'ied a lai-ge photograph of Mr. Chux-chill, President Roosevelt, and Genei-al Giraud, with General Cii*aud sitting In the centre. The newspapers stated that Genei-al Giraud discussed plans for French North African participation in the war, adding that he obtained promises frOrn President Roosevelt of priority in war weapons. As the first tangible result of the meetings between Generals de Gaulle and Giraud, missions will be exchanged between the Fighting French in London and General Giraud’s headquarters in North Africa, says the Press Association’s diplomatic correspondent. The missions will be small and comprise mainly military, economic and liaison officers, who will deal with the complex political questions which still exist. The decision to appoint the missions was taken at a meeting of the French National Council, to which General de Gaulle, after his return to Britain, fully reported on his meetings with Genex-al Giraud. The New Yoi-k Times says the de Gaulle-Gii-aud statement contains an understanding that will suffice until the .war is won. “We have no right to ask

more. We cannot expect Frenchmen to surreixder their earnest convictions concerning the political needs of post-war France, but we now expeot all Frenchmen to subordinate their political disagreements to the immediate essential task of driving the archfiend Hitler from French soil.’*-