1952-12-06 — Page 11

Sefton Delmer

now investigating on the spot the great enigma of Egypt's Strong-Man Military Government

SITS IN WITH

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, DECEMBER

1952.

Luxurious Stratooruiser service for very particulari people..

TH

Monarch

BADAT Propopondlat

SALEM

Land Beformer..

Agriculturist.

AMER

Chief Secretary.

NEGUIB'S YOUNG MEN

'I'm training them to take over in case anything happens to me.'-Neguib

I

Cairo: Don't forget that up to the present officers of the junta

-FI had not recognised him from his pictures I would never have guessed that the alim, rather feminine looking young offer lounging in the entrance hall to

Cairo's

have strictly obeyed the vow they took to remain anonymous and steret, to refuse all promo

the tempta- in and to resist tions of personal ambition.

JUNIORS

most tish.soldier, ` shall feel he has El comething to fight for. That is why we are redistribuung the land of Egypt under the land reform scheme."

Next to him is Brigadier Oddly. enough, the Anwar El Sadat, who watches conciliatory WOR Anwar over and is likely to replaco Pro. Sadat, the brigadier who was nationalist Fathi Rudwan cpposed to the British during Minister of National Guidance, the war and was arrested and which means propaganda. Imprisoned by us when caught The youngest looking of them in the act of flying off to join Hakim Amer, is at the mument all, handsome Captain

Abdel the enemy. chief secretary

to Nerulb as Prime

as

Minister.

Others were Captain Gamal Addin Husseini, who keeps the Ministry of Agriculture under his watchful eye; and Brigadier

military headquarters, WHEN I saw Negub I asked Abdel Monim Amin head of the

laughing and gossiping, him about his relations

with

they

Were the junts.

decisions? Or

could possibly be the grim colleagues and advisers with a

were they

打

military courts.

PROTEST

He suggested to ne that Bri- lain should make the sume kind of gesture to Egypt os she had made to the Ecors in South Africa. The name of the Egypt in Smuts, he hinted, might be Neguib.

But perhaps that isn't so odd after all. For the brigadier is a utudent of propaganda ano public relations technique.

figure known as the Strong full share merely his junior VALL, slight Wing-Commander of

Man's strong man.

officers taking orders from hini? Negulb Amited his -mnost avuncular and quizzical smile, at hix pipe, And said: are my junior officers."

But that just the same is what Brigadier Gamat Ali del Nasser is, and very ne much so.

What is more. Then he gave another smile, Home time in the next three and added: "Mind you, I give weeks he is likely to become them. na much responsibility as

possible. For even stronger..

That is, providing he and his dictator boss, General Mohamed Negulb, carry out their present plans. ·

INTRIGUES

-training

cne who can take over it any them up so that there is some thing should happen to me."

He certainly has given these young men plenty of power almost as much as they love given him. With the exception of Finance Minister. Einary,

junta's captains or half- become very weary of colonels sitting in lije next room his civilian Cabinet. And so to him. has the

secret military committee which Gamal put of step or his colonel things Nusser heads.

Ginal Salem, who is a bit administration of noise in the the Land Reformi Bill, looked in on the last few minutes of our discussion.

With the exception of Abdel Monim Amin. who Wils in

ries, all were wearing British y

British

style uniforms with Icoking insignia of rank, which, me think they might be more added to their friendliness made

mc reasonable in their attitude to wards Britain than their Na- tonalist predecessors,

of

I liked the brash incisiveness Wing-Commander Gamai Salem, the next in importance to Gamal Abdel Nasser, and book ed to take over the Ministry has already fired from the air Supply. T7:4

wing-commander

force all superior officers who had been trained by the British and Americans, leaving only

himself.

"The British soldier," he said, fought magnificently during

the

Alas for my friend's noble Idealism. It is the

economic disturbance produced. by over- precipitate land reform schemes coupled with confusion caused by military committers, bitrary price cutting, and the general dimculties of the cotton trade-that is raising spectres of unemployment-and bankruptcy to worry the generat.

the

He is making speech after speech at tou parties, hospital -openings, and on the radio ex- horting the people to discipline, and warning against rumour- mongers, all a sure sign of his distress and uncertainty.

RESULTS

CAN a change to military gov- ernment bring Gumal Salem the relief he hopes? I doubt it.

Two results, however, cortal:-

Ere

Cablet and ceonomic presure (1) With brigadiers in the rising outside, his voice, s policy, and his actions will be-

war, Why? Because he had something to fight for some thing to guard and protect."

Then the wing-commander

and more anti- revented the point of his tribute, me, more

British. "During the war with the Jews

(2) Despite his new M.1,5,

OLD soldier Neguib has every civillan Minister has one protent, Garnal Vistel Noguer running away way. Why a ou side caused by the reshulle will,

Wee to a Mlidster if he gets

be is out of step.

The

By whom and how I will try to tell you in my next despatch,

-(London Express Servico}

I made a probing suggeston to this effect, and was met im I met an Egyptian soldier who dissension in the army and out-

Abdel Nasser

I naked him be exploited against him. keted as spokesman.

"Why should stay?' he replix. hu 'I have nothing to fight for,' "The Egyptian Army**

"owes *** gid,

the nothing to

"We are determined that the British or to the British Army. Egyptian soldier, like the Bri- On the contrary.

British have deliberately kept us weak and perly equipped so that they could claim we're unit to de- fend the Suez Canal by our- a pet, Neguib is planning to THE Junta la everywhere, seivel. That way they always "abdicate" the tiresome pepping up ofeistis, bawling and a pretext for rotaining 3 civilians with their "bicker, the oflee, presiding over com- them out for arriving late at

remain base arul

in occupa- tion of our ings, jealousies, intrigues, mittees to axe men who have

The whale of the military and inefficiency."

rin by political patronage and

movement responsile for the Well, here I was surrounded coup of July 23 had been started

by him

So rather than abdicate himself, as he threatened in

UNDER 40

resentment at the

Army by the British.

He means to replace them not on merit. openly with Gamal and two by the junta, all of them under 1942 in and a few friends in or three other key officers 40, most of them in the earliest humiliation or the Egyptian from the junta of nine thirties and late twenties, which put him in power.

Which is why I was particularly delighted to have the chance of meeting Gamal and this secret com- mittee, sitting at a table with them, hearing their War Minister.

The dominant figure is...! quickly recognised, despite my rst Impression-Gamal Abdel

Nusser, now Cabinet chief to

Neguib in his capacity as Com mander-in-Chlef of the army, and booked to enter the Cabinet

Hy is being groomed as

The spectacle of Brilleh tanks surrounding the king's palace while the ambassador walked in

with an ultmatun hid seared

their souls. They determineti that Egypt must shake off the foreign yoke and build up r strong, valorous, well-equipped army of her own, backed by a

views, and generally giving Negub's successor it Negullis valorcais, self-reliant people. them the once-over on your assassinated, always a possibility "That's what we are out to ac- behalf.

to be reckoned with,

"complish now," he said.

Is weather to blame

Is

Soviet suspicion of

of the West due to Russia's

extraordinary countryske and climate?

·for Russia?

by JAMES LEASOR Sir David Kelly, British Ambassador in Moscow cillin through jet engines, from 1949 to 1951, puts steamboats, radio and radar forward this unusual theory to the discovery of the in a fascinating book of South Pole), Sir David has diplomatic reminiscences."

this to say:

to celebrate some national day in. an embassy, but only maximum of 20 would be al- lowed to attend, consisting "ol- most entirely of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Forces representatives."

This policy of isolation was so successful that, when a Rus-- For generations there has "It proves the existence of an

vion did show signs of begpm- been working on the Rus- which the authorities feel must

enormous sense of inferiority ing friendly it was assumed it was for some sinister motive. sian character what he calls be dealt with on a large scale.

There were few other chances "the influence of the endless And it shows to what a point of meeting people. Many day-

simplicity to-day necessities featureless land.... endless (they) rely on the

(Including

steppes or forests, merging

into the tundras of Siberia,

a0

and isolation of their

dience...

212-

thestre and train tickets, and most domestic affairs, but not food) could be

be obtained only

This national Inferiority com, through a Government depart- that in winter a mun plex causes Russia to "pay out' could travel on a sleigh from other countries for imagined ment called Burobin

the Baltic to the Pacific with diplomatic slights,

no

- obstacle but, the Urals:....

IM

This even dealt with such matters as the elimination of cockroaches. On this subject one of

of Sir David's colleagues

had a long correspondence which "Instead of the feudal Example: Moscow would not

to "high [·level," castle and the family farm, say whether Sir David Kelly's Burobin "ended it by telling there were log huts, for appointment as ambasador was him firmly that there were two approved (a decision usually kinds of cockroaches: one kind over being burned down, given in a week or two) for that could be eliminated, and and every stranger was 53 days.

are kind that could not. His, presumed to be an enemy. This was exactly the same unfortunately, belonged to the "The climate tells the same time it had taken London to latter class... tale....long, terrible Rus- agree on accepting Zarubin an

of extremes.

Soviet Ambassador to Britain—

sian winter....short, hot a delay due to his having been Russian summer; a climate involved in the Canadian spy, Sir David WAS constantly

trials.

talled by policemen (some uni- When Sir David, with his formed, some in plain clothes). wife, her Swiss secretary, They followed him to the "Belgion chef, an English but theatre and receptions; sat in

ler, and the family Saluki dog the next

everyone

"All these geographical arrived in Moscow, he found travelled apartment' when he train; walled out- and climatic features stand the diplomatic community vir- side the embassy while he was out in the Russian charac- tually isolated from

inside. ter....inherent instability, else.

When he protestod be On his first visit, as an under- toid: "We have to guard the am- abnormal suspicion. of foreigners, the absence of graduate in 1918, he had "wan bassador. Of course, you do the.

dered m", to the Kremlin "with same for the

Was

any true sense of form or a crowd of sightseers." Now in England » Soviet Ambassador

limits. Above all, the habit of rushing violently from

the place was a fortress, and 'It is interesung to, nòto that forbidden to when the Earl of Carlisio arrived diplomats were

mission to the avel through very large areas. In Moscow on

Czar as far back as 1602, ho

one extreme to another. of the country." periodically pulling up the

Even the 100 or so privileged complained that he

was .con-

roots and starting afresh." Russians professors, four tinually followed by a member On the astonishing way in malists, ballerines who had in of the Strolzl. He was told that

"to protect him.” ** Bir, David feels, suggests

regine has reverted to the age *The Ruling Few (Holle and A hundred invitations might before Peter the Grect partially Carter A58).

go to Buziah guests for a party Westernlied-Russia.

which Russia claims credit quile recent years been allow, this

ed to accept invitations to

for discoveries (from peni- foreign embassies had been that is como ways tho. Soviet

warned ones

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