VERY GRAVE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 272, 17 November 1943, Page 5

VERY GRAVE

LEBANON SITUATION DISORDERS CONTINUE (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) Recd. 6 p.m. London, Nov. 15. The situation in Lebanon i- extremely grave, said the news director of thi? British Ministry of Information in the Middle East, Mr. O. Ryan, on his return to Cairo from Beirut. He reiterated the statement by the British Ministry of Information that Senegalese troops w'ere used to arrest th,? President of Lebanon, thus countering the French denial which was cabled yesterday.

Mr. R. G. Casey. Minister of State in the Middle East, who returned from Beirut last flight, estimated that the casualties as a result of the Lebanon disturbances so 'far total 140, of which 10 or 12 were fatal. Mr. Casey saw General Catroux in Cairo this morning and amplified and explained the British position in regard to Lebanon. Reuter’s Algiers correspondent says that the British take a much graver view of the Lebanon position than is evident on the French side. Mr. Harold Macmillan, British Minister in Algiers, has made further representations to the French National Committee. It is understood that, despite vehement French denials, reports through British channels indicate that disorder is continuing not only in Beirut, but also in several other places in the country. A number of women and children were killed when French tanks fired on crowds It is stated in London that Mr. Macmillan has been instructed to take up with the French Committee the question of an incident outside the British Legation at Beirut on Saturday morning, when French troops fired on and caused casualties among a large crow'd of Lebanese students who were waiting in the hope of seeing the British Minister. Sir Edward Spears. It is pointed out that the troops apparently took action without receiving orders from French officers.