Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-02-13
Anglo-Egy Agreement

LIE agreement announced between br1Ca10
and Egypt on the Sudan issue, with the added
word from Cairo that there has also been agree
ment in principle on the status of British troops
In the Suez area, provides the best news to come
from the troubled Middle East in many months.
It was in October, 1851, that the Egyptian
government announced unilateral abrogation
OF the Egyptian treaty of 1886, dealing
primarily with defense of the Suez Canal .area,
and with it reputation Of the condominium
agreement on joint powers in the Sudan. At
about the same time, the Cairo government
CURLY rejected an invitation to join the United
States, Britain, France and Turkey in the
creation Of a Middle East Defense Command.
This sequence Of actions amounted to sowing q
whirlwind in the Nile, country. BY the end
of that year there was virtually state of war
between British and Egyptian forces in the
canal zone and anarchy in Egypt was narrowly
averted in the succeeding weeks For six more
months King Farouk maintained a desperate
and uneasy rule but military revolution and
Farouk'S forced abdication followed in June.
The power since then has been in the hands of
General Mohammed Naguib and clique of
army associates
Broadly speaking, Naguib has been faced
with two extraordinarily difficult problems,
namely, reform of his countrys domestic
political and economic life, and definition of
its place in world affairs. The core of the latter
problem was a resolution of the Anglo-E Egyptian
1mpasse, an issue sufficiently important to bear
heavily also upon the prospect of effecting the
political-economic reforms. And at the center
OF that impaSSe has been the question of the
future of the Sudan, a territory of mixed peoples
that lies astride the headwaters of the Nile in
position to control the very life of Egypt proper
Historically, Cairo has taken the position
that the Sudan is and should be a part of
greater Egypt. Britain, exercising the greater
actual control under the condominium, has
placed its public emphasis upon the racial
differences within the Sudan and has insisted
that the territory should be given conditional
independence first and the right of self-deter-
mination later. The agreement now reached
is closer to the British concept but with quail
fications that are seemingly satisfactory to the
Naguib government. The heartening factor,
however, is that the compromise has been
reached without duress-other than a recogni-
ton by each side that the controversy should be
resolved and persistent pressure from American
quarters to keep the negotiations alive
1t has been commended from the beginning
that settlement Of the Suez issue would be
relatively easy once the Sudan problem was
solved. AS long ago as April, 1851, London
acknowledged the principle of evacuation of
British troops but agreement was lacking over
the time to be allowed for withdrawal. 1t is
not yet known what, if any, understanding has
been reached on this point, but two related
factors may simplify the issue One is that an
effective defense of the canal as strategic
waterway must begin, in terms Of modern
warfare, at points east and north of the area
Itself; In other words, that properly equipped
and trained Egyptian forces might constitute
adequate defensive strength in the canal zone
proper. The other is that agreement by Egypt
now to join in some mutual security structure
would permit the drafting and augmentation
of comprehensive strategic plan for defending
not only the Egyptian corner but the entire
Middle East.
The progress achieved at this point has
required much time and patience. More of
each will be needed for further accomplishment
but the greatest obstacle has been hurded and
the pace toward settling the collateral questions
may quicken. The prospect is encouraging.