Complications in Egypt The cause of the rather overcharged political
atmosphere in Egypt is the fact that King Fuad, who has established a firm tradition of palace government, is seriously ill, and that his son is a boy of fourteen. The illness has not shaken the tradition, the intermediary between the sick sovereign and the Prime Minister being the Controller of the Royal Estates, Ibrashi Pasha, who has in fact made himself into a very formidable power behind the throne. Perplexed as to how to deal with the situation, the Prime Minister, Yehia Pasha, has consulted the Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Maurice Peterson (Sir Miles Lampson being in this country on leave), who appears to have told him frankly that he would do well to drop two very questionable members of his Cabinet and take steps to curb Ibrashi Pasha's power. The advice, as so often happens in the East, soon reached the ears of the proposed victims, and the clique they represent being strong enough to intimidate the Prime Minister, he has spread the story that the advice from the Residency was unsolicited. There appears to be no foundation whatever for that charge. Mr. Peterson was asked for his advice and very properly gave it. And the best thing the Prime Minister could do for his country would be to take it.
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