UN General Assembly
1954

100. After laborious negotiations, the United Kingdom and Egyptian Governments concluded the Cairo Agreement signed on 27 July 1954. This Agreement contained the principles on which were to be based the provisions of a Convention which the experts of both sides immediately began to draft. 101. I am glad to announce that this convention is about to be signed. In a few days it will be an accomplished fact, and twenty months after its signature no foreign soldier will be on Egyptian soil. The command of the Suez Canal base, in respect of which the Convention lays down the provisions for its transfer to Egypt will henceforth be entrusted to officers of the Egyptian General Staff. The Convention will be in force for the specific period of seven years. 102. This welcome event will have the most far-reaching repercussions, not only in Egypt but also in the Arab countries and throughout the Near East as a whole. For Egypt, a long-festering hostility will end and an era of mutual, equal and general understanding will begin.