The Middle East

Southland Times, Issue 24368, 24 February 1941, Page 4

The Middle East

rpi-IE ARRIVAL in Cairo of the L British Foreign Secretary and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff indicates fairly clearly that Middle East strategy is about to enter a new phase. Hitherto the dominant interest in this region has been the defence of Egypt. The shattering defeat of Marshal Graziani’s Libyan Army by the Imperial forces of the Nile has removed the danger of Italian expansion in North Africa. With the capture of Benghazi the whole of Cyrenaica passed into British hands, and the remnants of Marshal Graziani’s Army are isolated in Tripoli, more than 600 miles away. Immediately after the fall of Benghazi it seemed probable that the British troops would continue their march into Tripolitania. The same thought must have occurred to Signor Mussolini, if there is any truth in the report that he asked Marshal Petain to allow his forces to pass through Tunisia. But the situation in the Balkans was even then becoming delicate. The main purpose of the British offensive, to sweep the Italians out of Egypt and to immobilize them in the west of Libya, had been achieved with spectacular success. It now became necessary to concentrate British forces near points which may be threatened in

the near future by the armies of Germany. Whether this will mean an expeditionary force to Greece has not yet been revealed, although it is reported that the island of Lemnos is being converted into a fortified naval and air base. During his last visit to Egypt Mr Eden was acting in the capacity of Minister of War. Today he is there as Britain’s Foreign Secretary, a fact with a significance that should not be overlooked. For the struggle in the Middle East is at the moment more a question of politics than of military action. Until the policies of several Balkan countries have been clarified it would be premature to speculate on the next step in British strategy. Mr Eden’s presence in Cairo gives the impression that the reactions of certain states to the Nazi infiltration of Bulgaria have not yet shown if Britain must fight alone as the protector of Greece.