IN FERMENT
SIR,—Darsie Gillie's rhetorical question has my full assent: `What hope can there be of consolidating peace if the diplomatic immunities which arc essential to diplomatic relations are disregarded?' The Egyptian case is that the arrested Frenchmen did not in fact enjoy diplomatic immunity. The UAR certainly does not enjoy diplomatic relations with France. These were broken off at the time of Suez And have not been renewed The French Mission were allowed to come to Cairo under the terms of the Zurich Agreement. The text of this agreement makes no mention of diplomatic immunity; all that the Egyptians undertook to provide were facilities to enable the Mission to carry out their work—which was specifically restricted to a concern with French property in Egypt.
At the moment a group of alleged 'French spies' arc awaiting trial this month. I did not wish to confine myself to those of French nationality, who may have done their duty as they saw it; spies for France were included in the phrase, just as the British subject George Blake was widely referred to as a Soviet spy; nor did I wish to prejudge the issue. It is likely that some will be acquitted. The only defendant known to myself is a charming, gossipy, indiscreet journalist; I find it difficult to believe that he did more than shoot off his mouth to people of whose identity he was unaware. Another defendant, however, seems to have admitted to having practised the profession of spy for forty-one years, in the interests of France, Belgium, Switzerland and Japan, and on easy terms: around £30 4 month.
Doubts about foreign spy-trials may often be justified. But it is worth repeating that the arrest of the 1954 Israeli spy ring in Cairo and Alexandria was pleaded by as reputable a scholar as Mr. George Kirk as justification for the Israeli reprisal raid on Gaza, which led in turn to Nasser's arms agreement with Czechoslovakia. Yet during the course of the Lavon affair the Israelis themselves admitted that there had been such a spy ring in Egypt: Lavon was blamed, not for its existenceobut for a security leak which led to its uncovering.
The Egyptians claim that the French Mission tbused Egyptian hospitality and instead of seeing to :heir business (in the discreet manner followed by mr own analogous mission under Mr. Colin Crowe) ndulged in a series of hostile acts, including the print- mg of pamphlets attacking the regime, the collection
of military information and the diffusion of rumours. I was present in Cairo after the Syrian military coup and can testify that such rumours were being circulated by somebody. As to the plots against Nasser's life, these may well have been daydreams. But while such daydreams are connected with French Arabic scholars there can be little hope of that rapprochement between the Arabs and Europe of which both parties stand in need.
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