BRITISH SHOULD ENTER SYRIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 123, 28 May 1941, Page 5

BRITISH SHOULD ENTER SYRIA

CHECK TO GERMANY TIME APPROPRIATE, BECAUSE OF BATTLE FOR CRETE ARAB WORLD ANTI-AXIS (Recd. 5.5 p.m.) London, May 27. The Daily Telegraph says the time is ripe for Britain to move to forestall German occupation of Syria. This is the declaration of everyone from Syria, everyone who contacts the people there. The Germans are exercising a growing influence in the French administration. and more and more munitions and other supplies are going to Iraq, but the German preoccupation in Crete provides an ideal opportunity for the British occupation of Syria. A growing food shortage in Syria is making the situation much worse, and the arrival of a force from the outside with supplies for the populace would be a great influence. A prominent Anglophile Arab said the Arab world is expecting an imminent British move on Syria. A majority of well-informed Moslems are proBritish. but Axis propaganda and gold have done much damage, and Axis cells, in Iraq, Iran. Egypt, Palestine, and Syria are collaborating to influence the peoples. The Arabs have no confidence in the Axis. but. they need a demonstration of British strength, and a visible indication that we are able to take the initiative.

The Daily Mail says that daily Dircassian cavalrymen and Druse tribesmen, and mon from the Caucasus cross the frontier and join the Free French. Ail ask: “Why have not the British come into Syria months ago? We have been waiting for you ever since the collapse of France." The Times says there is no longer any doubt that a grave rift has appeared in the Iraqi rebel front. The army has no stomach for the struggle and important elements throughout Iraq repudiate the treacherous attack against Britain. The Kurdish minority in the north of Iraq and the Shahs, who are in great majority between Baghdad and Basra, have shown no ;ign of sympathy with the rebellion. Arab countries have solidly refused to give Rashid Ali moral and material support. This demonstration of Arab friendship should not, however, absolve Britain from closely watching German activities in the Near and Middle East. We have been too inclined to take Arab friendship for granted. Germany. having no responsibilities or commitments can offer anything and everything. No pan-Arab dream has been too wild to receive encouragement frqrn German agents and, above all, the policy of a Jewish national home. exaggerated and misrepresented, has been a godsend to Nazi propagandists. Much more can be done to counteract the distrust and anxiety caused by constant Nazi whisperings.