Evening star., 1948-01-25
By John e. Henry

built up reservoir of suspicion anc
distaste; her handling Of the Pales-
tine mandate. had pleased neither
Arabs nor Zionists. and her enforced
hard bargaining on sterling ex-
change had restricted and embar-
rassed potential trade possibilities
Her insistence upon retaining troops
in the Suez zone of Egypt and he1
refusal to abrogate the 1896 Anglo
Egyptian treaty aroused deepest re.
sentiment in Egypt and intensified
the distrust of other Arab nations
toward London's long-term inten'
tions, ...
Middle East More Friendly
While recent developments have
given no reason to believe that such
long-term intentions, whatever THEY
may be, havsbeen altered, London's
conduct has caused the pendulum o1
Middle East reaction to swing to.
ward a more friendly position.
The first step in this direction
came last fall when the British
government announced its intention
to surrender the Palestine mandate
but, in effect, to assume no RESPONSE
bility for an alternative solution
which did not meet with approval
of both Arabs and zionists. The
partition solution subsequently voted
by the United Nations met expected
bitter opposition Of the Arab states,
Britain abstained from the General
Assembly vote by which partition
was approved.
Since the United States took the
leadership in forcing U. N. passage
of the partition plan, this govern.
ment was the william in the play az
far as the Middle East states were
concerned.
Credits Improve Position
Early this month came another
step, calculated, or having the ef-
feet of easing tension between the
British and Egyptian governments
when agreement was announced fol-
the release by London to Cairo OF
about $4,000, 900 in blocked sterling
credits, plus the sale Of an addi-
tional $25,o0o,oo0 which Egypt might
use In trade with other countries
Several other provisions Of the
agreement likewise materially i'm
prove the Egyptian trade position
Included was the sale of $4,000,00(
in gold which Egypt may use to pay
it's increased quota to the Interna.
tional Monetary Fund and its sub.
scription to the International Bank
London's financial district was
described as being surprised at the
generosity of the agreement, while
Cairo was described as pleased
A few days later, 1t was disclosed
that after extremely cordial" ne.
gotiations, a new treaty of alliance
had been signed between Britain
and Iraq. In the new agreement
Britain retained rights of pre-.
vious treaty for maintenance o1
military bases in 1raq. Since a 194t
treaty with Trans-Jordan already
gave Britain a firm military inf1u.
ence in that the country, the Irac
agreement solidifies the British po.
sition in the center of the Middle
East world.
British Supply Arms
Following closely on announce.
ment of the Iraq Treaty came &C.
knowledgement from London thai
Britain currently is supplying arms
to Iraq, Trans-Jordan and Egypt
While details were withheld, ths
War Office made the acknowledge
ment on the basis of "our treat!
obligations to certain Arab ane
Middle East states" Foreign Min
ister Bevin later announced PLAN
for "a new series of treaties regu
larizing and expressing the friend
ship between this country and tn,
Arab world"
While there has been a backfir,
of reaction In Baghdad to terms o
the new treaty with Britain, spokes
men for both governments are still
insisting that the agreement will b.
ratified.
Unquestionably, also, the Ara
world is not displeased at the an
nounced refusal to the British
government to open Palestine u
unlimited or substantially increased
Jewish immigration prior to Brit
aims surrender of the mandate.
Last week there came from Iral
an unconfirmed report that the ney
Iranian cabinet was approving for
nation of British controlled com
pany for expanded development o
Iranian oil resources. Since tn
Anglo Co., British owned
already holds the concession on oi
lands in Southern and Western
territory, there was speculation tina
the new ventur might involv
the northern territory which tn
Teheran government refused to opel
up to a Russian-controlled instru
mentality.
Meanwhile the Middle East; state
are watching carefully the course o
our continuing policy on the Pales
tine matter. While there is no ques
ton about our loss of influence ant
prestige thus far, there has not ye
been any substantial threat II
American lives, property or invest
ments in the Middle East. TIL,
dividing line, however, is very thir
one and refusal Of the Syrian gov
ernment last November to submit
1See HENRY. Page C. %