Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-06-04
British Attack
Beirut0i|Depot,
Occupy MoSu|
Cairo Brands Syriu os
Nozi-Occupied Area
Ard Ends Relations
BULLETIN.

lano, sea ana air, a NaZl van
guard in French-mandated
Syria is being steadily REIN
forced. British press dis
patches said tonight, while in
London British quarters de-
clared necessary precautions"
have been taken to deal with
this Near East threat. A
Reuters dispatch from the
Syrian frontier said more
than II planes. most Of them
fighters, are arriving daily at
Syrian airports, and that
about $50 empty troop car
riers landed on the Kayak
Airdrome Monday.
Earlier StO-v on Page ALL
b. the Associated Press.
Egypt's cabinet resigned late
today, amid fears of Axis inva-
sion and British Warplanes
bombed and machine-gunned
the oil depot at nearby Beirut,
Lebanon. in what may have been
the opening blow in the next
major campaign of the war.
Authoritative quarters in Cairo
said the Egyptian cabinet shakeup
was prompted by the present grave
circumstances" involving the belief
that a German thrust into the rich
Valley of the Nile may be immi-
nent. 1t was understood Premier
Hussein Sirrv Pasha would be des-
ignated to form a new cabinet to-
morrow
1t was said the present threat was
considered far more serious than
that of last autumn when Marshal
Rodolfo Grazianis Italian leglons
knitted some 30 miles into Egypt
from Libya
Listing Syria as German occu-
pied territory" the Egyptian govern
ment forbade all trade and other
relations with that French mandate.
The order did not apply to Lebanon.
In London, government sources
said. in the absence of more de-
tailed information, they were puz-
zled over the Egyptian government
declaration concerning Syria.
Egypt still is acknowledgement, 1t
was pointed out. but when the war
broke she severed diplomatic re-
lations with Germany. The dec
laration on Syria was interpreted
by some as an application of that
action. especially since a large part
of Egyptian trade is with SYRIA.
Authoritative quarters in London
said Britain had now taken "neces-
sary precautions in regard TO
Syria" and imperial headquarters
at Cairo announced that British
troops had occupied Mosul, the CEN
ter of Iraq's rich oil fields.
1t was reported that the Mosul
pipeline to Haifa. Palestine, was in
working order despite the recent
presence of German airmen in
Mosul
Most of the British oilmen in Iraq
already are back on the Job or are
returning TO the pipeline and wells,
none of which was said to be dam
aged.
Germany was reported to have
concentrated large air strength
around Mosul, but last week end
these planes were said to be fleeing
the country and the extent of re-
Sistance TO the British drive, if any.
was not made clear.
Rioting in Baghdad.
Serious riOting' in Baghdad,
which the restored Iraqi govern
ment had to put down by martial
law, was described in Cairo as only
the dying effort of the Rashid Ali
Al Gallant faction to cause trouble.
AS the war momentarily threat
ened to boil over into this new
theater in the Eastern Mediter-
ranean. the Syrian high command
declared the army of the Levant
was ready to defend its territory
against any attacks.
In Berlin, Nazl spokesman said
France had taken certain protec-
tive measures" along the borders
OF some of her colonial possessions
an evident reference to Syria and
Lebanon.
Reuters, British news agency,
quoted the Ankara radio as saying
the Germans are believed to have
accumulated one division (up to
Is 900 menl in Syria already