Agreement in the Lebanon
General Catroux is to be congratulated on the statesmanlike discernment and the rapidity with which, having restored the status quo in the Lebanon, he has negotiated and concluded an agreement satisfactory to both the Lebanese and Syrian Governments. The high-handed arrest of members of the Lebanese Government had stirred flames of revolt in the Lebanon and drawn 'protests from the whole Arab world. General Catroux has handled the situation admirably. He first restored power to the affronted Ministers, and then proceeded to talks in which he evidently realised that this was no occasion for hard bargaining, but for offering at one stroke to Syria and the Lebanon all that they had been promised and that could not long be denied. Under the agreement which has been reached all powers and capacities hitherto exercised by the French under mandate will be transferred to the Syrian and Lebanese Governments. This gives the two Arab countries the substance of what they demand, and nobody is likely to be much disturbed by the theoretic point that France cannot formally give her assent till she herself is free, or that the League of Nations cannot relieve her of the mandate till it comes back to life. In other respects General Catroux, acting for the French National Committee, recognises the independence of the Arab States just as Britain recognised the independence of Iraq in the Treaty signed in 1930 ; and it may be presumed that just as that Treaty recognised the special position of Britain in relation to Iraq so the agreement now concluded will put France in a special relationship to Syria and the Lebanon. Events have proved that our policy in 193o was the wise and long-sighted one. It is good for France, and good for our own relations with the Arab world, that our French ally should adopt a similar policy.
Previous page
