Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-16
THE WORLD SCENE

The Suez Canal crisis, most
threatening 10 the peace of the
world since the Communist inva-
sion Of South Korea in 1850, was
marked by see-saw confusion all
la week.
speeches we're made and then
qualified. stands taken and later
clarified" in London, Paris. and
Washington.
BY the end OF the week another
London conference was scheduled
for Wednesday. and Secretary of
State Dulles will be there at the di-
rect request of President Eisen-
hover.
The conference, TO consist. only
of the 10 nations which backed the
original internationalizatio pro-
posal made by Mr.. Dulles at the
first London conference in August,
will meet "for the purpose of fur
ther exchanging views in the light
of developments. :. :"
And in Egypt President-dictator
Canal Abdel Nasser is now saddled
with the tricky job of operating the
vital waterway he nationalized in
July. Friday, 100 foreign pilots
walked off their jobs, leaving only
46 men qualified to take ships
through the 100-mile- long canal.
Despite the arrival of an undisclosed
number of Soviet pilots and the
stepped-up recruiting of others,
shipping circles foresaw a hopeless
jam of vessels at each end of the
canal before this week is over.
On Wednesday it seemed almost
certain that a direct challenge
would be offered Egypt. a challenge
which could mean only war if
Col. Nasser held his ground
But on Thursday, Mr.. Dulles de-
clared fatty that the United States
would not shoot its way through
the Suez Canal" and later Prime
Minister Anthony Eden told tense
House of Commons that Britain
would take the Suez dispute to the
United Nations Security Council
rather than use military force
against Egypt. He reserved the
right, however. to take whatever
steps his cabinet deemed necessary
In the event of emergency"
Mission Unoccomplished
The weeks fast-moving events
began on Sunday. when the FIVE
nation special delegation sent by
the London conference to confer
with Col. Nasser left Cairo with
nothing accomplished. The dele
cation, under the leadership of
Australian Prime Minister Robert
Menzies had presented, as basis
for discussion, the Dulles proposal
for an international control board.
with Egypt represented, to run the
Suez waterway.
Apparently the delegates at
Cairo had not expected Col. Nasser
to accept the Dulles plan. But
they were reported to be reasons
ably certain that the ambitious
Egyptian leader would at least use
the proposal as basis for further
negotiations. Their belief proved
unfounded.
Col. Nasser. although courteous
and proper, refused to retreat an
inch from his stand that the Suez
Canal was an Egyptian property.
subject only to the terms of the
Constantinople Convention of 1888.
And that convention, Col. Nasser
insisted. had been and was being
scrupulously observed. (He made
no reference to the fact that Israel
shipping has been barred from
the use of the canal since the
Arab-Israel war and that Egypt
had been censured by the United
Nations Security Council for this
violation of the 1888 treaty in Sep
TENDER, 1851
With the breakdown of the
Cairo discussions, fears again
mounted that British and French
forces, poised on Cyprus and other
Mediterranean bases. would launch
q lightning blow at Egypt by land,