Evening star., 1956-03-26

AAiS AAO AAAoJOA AAS AS"oPNPNAo Va 40
Idio of its own. should rely al.
most entirely on the voice ol
Cairo for its news. It is equally
natural that. having no lawyer.
or teachers. most Libyan schools
are stated by Egyptians. thai
the legal advisor to the King 1:
an Egyptian and that most o.
the judges on the Libyan Sup.
RENE Court are also Egyptian
their salaries paid in Cairo. TIL,
Prime Minister himself, al
though technically a Libyan citi-
zen. was born in Alexandria anc
received his engineering train
ing in Egypt.
In short. while the Western
powers are filling the vacuum II
terms of Libya's financial wants
the Egyptians are supplying tht
need for leadership in all field:
except the strictly military. Anc
even here. with a number ol
Libyans now enrolled in Egyptian
military schools, the monopoly Of
the British is not likely to last
very long.
Easily FOrseen
What this growing influence
means in terms of long range
Western interests is not very
hard to forsee. Already, as 6
member of the Arab League
Libya follows the Egyptian leat
in all but a few matters. These
include, notably, the question o1
neutrality toward the struggle
going on in French North Africa
and the question of foreign mill
itary bases on Libyan soil. Or
both of these matters, thu
Egyptians - whose majol
achievement to date was tht
Iousting of the British from the
ISuez base - hold pronounced
views. The opposition of Egypt
Ito the arrangements between
Libya and the West for main.
itainlng such bases as now exist
lis quite clear. And it is a safe
bet that the aim of Egyptian
policy here is to eliminate these
remaining "vestiges of Western
imperialism" from Libya soil.
Until recently. the Western
allies could afford to stand back
and watch this activity with g
certain detachment. AS long as
they supplied the vital where.
withal without which the Libyar
Government could not survive
no very drastic action seemed
likely. But this picture changed
radically with the opening OF
the Russian Embassy in Tripoli
last January.
From the outset, the Soviet
Government has made it clear
enough that they were mount
ing a major effort in Libya
Their new mission, already as
large as the American Embassy
is headed by a first stringer
named Nikolai Ivanovich Gen
eralov, last heard of as Ambas-
sador to Australia at the time OF
the Petrov case. Since his ar
rival Mr.. Generalov, under the
solicitous sponsorship of the
Egyptians, has acquired the rep
utation of being an energetic
and wonderfully affable diplo-
mat. bursting with generosity
and by no means empty handed
Economic Aid
Unlike the approach in Egypt
there is no question here of a
trade agreement" as a mask
for outright economic aid, if
only because Libyans, for the
time being at least, have very
little to trade. Still, the Rus
slams have found it possible to
offer a completely-equipped ano
stated hospital, unlimited guam
titles of bitumen and cement fol
roads. farm machinery and spare
parts, all on the basis of a 90
year loan, repayable in raw
materials" - presumably still
undiscovered oil.
The combination of Egyptian
and Russian efforts amount to a
threat which the Western powers
cannot ignore if they hope to
preserve Libya as a safe" and
hospitable country. To counter
the new Russian offers, the
American Ambassador here
John J. Tappin. recently has
been to Washington pleading fol
an increased aid program with
authority to commit funds fol-
long-range development projects
If this is forthcoming, it is felt
that there is a chance of keep
ing Libya at least in a state OF
friendly neutrality. If it is not
there is little reason to suppose
that Libya will not be drawn
eventually into the strong anti
Western current sweeping across
North Africa.