World Events in a Month

World Events in a Month
This corner is edited by: Ziyadeh Awwad

No sooner had Egypt announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company than the three Western powers — Britain, France, and America — rose to oppose the nationalization and to demand the internationalization of the Canal, on the pretext of safeguarding freedom of navigation. Egypt refused to comply with the Western demand, whereupon the Political Committee of the Arab League held meetings in Cairo which resulted in collective resolutions supporting Egypt in her stand toward the Western demands, and in her refusal to attend the London Conference to discuss the problem of the Suez Canal.

On August 16, great popular demonstrations took place in the capitals of all the Arab countries, in support of sister Egypt and in proclamation of the Arabs' solidarity with the Egyptian people in its struggle for sovereignty and independence.

These demonstrations fell on the opening day of the London Conference, which was attended by 22 states including the Soviet Union, whose Foreign Minister Shepilov announced his country's rejection of any resolution touching Egypt's rights of sovereignty and independence; the delegates of India, Ceylon, and Indonesia supported him.

After a week of discussions the London Conference adopted a resolution to create an international body to supervise the administration of Suez, of which Egypt would be a member, and to form a five-member committee headed by Mr. Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia, to meet President Gamal Abdel Nasser and negotiate with him toward finding a peaceful solution to the problem of the Canal.

At noon on Monday, August 28, the Egyptian reply to the request of the London Conference's five-member committee was broadcast, containing the consent of the President of the Egyptian Republic to meet the Menzies committee, without Egypt being bound to adopt the point of view of the Western powers and their partners in the recent London resolutions.

This meeting is expected to take place in Cairo in the early part of next September.

Hardly had Russia's Foreign Minister, Mr. Dmitri Shepilov, reached Moscow on his way back from London than he gave the press a statement in which he declared that the American plan, as amended by the Pakistani plan, for solving the Suez crisis aims at entrenching the foothold of imperialism in Egypt, after that imperialism had been done away with in the Middle East.

And when Mr. Dulles, the American Secretary of State, reached Washington on the night of August 28, he held a press conference in which he declared that Moscow wants to make of Egypt a cause for kindling the fire of war in the Middle East.

President Gamal Abdel Nasser signed a decree creating a Liberation Army, whose command was entrusted to Major General Abdel Hakim Amer, Minister of War, in his capacity as supreme commander of the Egyptian army. The decree creating this army stated that nationals of the Arab states and of foreign states alike may join it.

Well-informed circles in Syria announced that the Syrian government is preparing trained volunteers to take part in the struggle of the Arab Maghreb, and particularly of Algeria, against French colonialism.

On the night of August 26 there expired the truce which the Greek Cypriot organization EOKA had proclaimed as a first step on its part toward opening the door to negotiations between the Cypriot nationalist leaders and the British government for a solution of the Cyprus problem — this following the terms of surrender announced by the British Governor of Cyprus, Field Marshal Harding, in which he demanded that the surrender take place without stipulation or condition, a thing EOKA refused, threatening to resume the fighting against the British.
An atmosphere of anxiety and unrest now prevails over the island.
Greece has lodged a strongly worded protest with the Turkish government, and has conveyed a similar protest to the Council of the Atlantic Pact.

At midnight on August 28 the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior announced the discovery of an espionage network in Egypt, among whose members are Britons — one of them the director of the Arab News Agency in Egypt, along with a British employee of the Marconi Radio Company and two senior officials of the British Embassy — as well as certain Egyptian elements.

His Majesty the King of Libya, Idris al-Senussi the First, arrived in Beirut on Thursday, August 23, on an official visit to Lebanon that lasted three days. The Senussi monarch was given a magnificent official and popular reception. His Majesty left Beirut on Sunday, August 26, returning to Tripoli of the West accompanied by a royal retinue headed by Mr. Mustafa Ben Halim, Prime Minister of Libya.

In mid-August His Majesty King Hussein, monarch of Jordan, paid a surprise visit to Syria, during which he met His Excellency President Quwatli in the presence of the head of the Syrian government. It was said that the talks dealt with the important Arab questions, among them the Suez problem, and with the unification of the Arab governments' plans toward the Western powers and their allies in the scheme to internationalize the Suez Canal, in the light of the conference which the three Western powers called to be held in London.

On Thursday, August 30, President Chamoun and his wife left Beirut for Amman on a private visit to His Majesty King Hussein, monarch of Jordan. It is said that the talks to be held between His Majesty and His Excellency will deal with the current Arab questions.