Egypt and the War
It is regrettable that there should be any split in the Egyptian Cabinet at a time when national unity against the Nazi menace is so essential, but the fact that the difference of opinion was not about whether to enter the war, but about when, must be emphasised. The four Saadist Ministers who have resigned felt strongly that the time had already Come for Egypt to honour her treaty with Great Britain and take up arms in her own defence against enemy forces now standing on her soil. The Prime Minister, Hassan Pasha Sabry, holds that the occupation by the Italians of a few square miles of desert which the British commander-in-chief never thought of defend- ing does not constitute actual invasion, and this reading of the situation is not contested in London. No doubt is felt that when Marshal Graziani's troops have reached positions important to Egypt, where a serious defence must be made, Egypt will enter the war as a united country. But at the moment the situation is static. The Italians have not moved from Sidi Barrani, which they occupied last week unopposed, but their position is unenviable, for they are being shelled from the sea by the British fleet, bombed from the air by the R.A.F. and harassed by repeated light attacks by British mobilised columns. The delay in the advance may be due to the intention to make it synchronise with the invasion of Britain, or an attack on the Sudan from Kassala, or both. The British troops defending Egypt are heavily outnumbered and it would be most unwise to take the Italian threat lightly, though there is every reason to believe it will be unsuccessful. In view of the special dangers from Fifth Columnists in Egypt it is satis- factory that the Egyptian Government is actively interning Italians—a measure which in itself comes very near a declaration of war.
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