Evening star., 1924-12-06
ZACHLUL PASHA
The Storm Center i'm the Egyptian Crisis
BY CONSTANTINE Il. CHEKREZI,
Former Commissioner OF Albania the United Stdtes

| Great Britain on Egypt was made BY
Zaghlul to revoIve around the ques-
| tion of the Sudan, on which he put
| the stamp of his own personality.
And the case Of the Sudan is per
| picking enough In Itself.
To begin with, It is very extensive
cotton producing region, a fact which
makes it a highly desirable prize. both
| for the British and the Egyptians. il
comprises some 100000 square miles
and a population OF more than 100000
! Of negroid races. r.
| Prior to the fateful year these regions
Of the Upper Nile belonged TO Egypt.
| Their inha hitants were conscrtpted to
! build the pyramids. But in the year
! 1888, when Egypt was occupied oy Brit
| ish forces, the rebellion of the Mahdi
resulted In their being severed from her
possession, and they were not recon
ouered until the year 1898, when Lord
Kitchener, being in command or Egyp-
| tian forces, crushed the rebellion In the
celebrated victories Of Khartum and
| Omdurman.
| Because OF the assistance rendered
bv the British in reclaining the
! lost provinces, a joint Anglo-Egyp-
tian condominium was established In
the Sudan, which since came TO De
known as the Anglo-Esyptoan Sudan.
| Yet, even Hnglishmen admit thar
the forces of occupation were NANNY
Egyptian-and SO they have been up
| TO the present-and that out or the
yearly expense OF $5,500,oo0 for the
Administration, only half a million
| dollars have been disbursed by Great
F, Britain.
At the time, therefore, when Great
Britain proclaimed Egypt as an
independent sovereign state" the
question of the Sudan was left 10
be settled through direct negotiations
! between the two governments.
It became evident from the very
beginning, however, that there was
little hope for any satisfactory agree
ment. The British contended that
the people OF the Sudan prefer Brit
ish to Egyptian rule, and that It
would be a crime to hand them over
to Egyptian "misrule," while Zagh-
| lul Pasha, who had just assumed
! the premiership from the detention
house at Gibraltar, countered with
the unequivocal statement that the
| possession OF the Sudan was as es-
sential to Egypt as the Nile.
| At length Premier Ramsay Mac
Donald invited Zaghlul Pasha to Lon
don last September to open direct
! negotiations, with all assurances OF
good will. The Egyptian premier de
clined, however, all the repeated in
vitations by taking exceptions now
| to the participation of the Sudan IN
the Wembly exhibition and then to
the British activities in the Sudan
itself.
| At the same time Zaghlul Pasha
went on giving utterance to the mi
| quitous course OF Great Britain in
| trying to rob Egypt of its most val
4 rPV MA %
up by the hot-headed Nationalists,
who staged a. series OF Anti-British
manifestations throughout Egypt, in
| which all the wrongs, real or imagi-
| nary. sustained by the Egyptians at
the hands OF Englishmen were given
more than due expression. Thus were
| the Egyptian people receiving their
political education for q determined
| stand against British encroachments
on what Zaghlul Pasha deemed to be
their national rights. The murder of
| the sirdar was a result of tho ever
growing agitation. His position as
| governor general of the Sudan made
him the object OF the Sharpest at
! tacks, inasmuch' as he was considered
as an instrument for the furtherance
OF the selfish interests of Great Brit
ain in that region.
X y y i re
Will the storm pass because it's CEN
ter was apparently broken with the
retirement and departure from Egypt
of Zaghlul Pasha? The British, con-
tend that the crisis is over; that the
! government OF ziwar Pasha has Sc
! cured control of the situation, even
though It had to capitulate complete
ly to England. ~
Yet the cry OF revolt is not stilied
by any means. And, besides, there
are other forces at work, The cause
of Islamism Is one of them, !. even
though Its backbone, the caliphate, Is
| broken. Agitations similar to. that of
Egypt are on the ascendency in other
| subject Moslem lands, such as Mo
| rocco, Mesopotamia, Tunis.
Then there is the Communist ex
citement. The alliance OF National
ism, Islamism and Communism may
be bewildering paradox, in that one
doctrine is the negation Of the other.
But the fruits of Communist propa
ganda have already been seen in the
fervent national revival Of Turkey.
It would seem. indeed, that any down
trodden nation--or one that believes
itself downtrodden-wot1id gladly
make an alliance with the devil him
self.