No. 381. \ Ministry to Foreign Office.—(Deceived December 14.) My
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:OPYRIGHT -"NOT TO "~BE ~~IUP"RODUCf D" PHOTOGRAPHICALLY W I T H O U L_. P E Rtfl S S | ON 314 No. 381. \ \ Ministry to Foreign Office.—(deceived December 14.) My Lord, Air Ministry, December 12, 1910. I AM commanded by the Air Council to refer to Foreign Office letter* of the 29th August and telegramt No. 1031 of the ,25th ultimo from Viscount Allenby, of which a copy has been forwarded to this Department, and Air Ministry letter^ of the 27th September on the subject of the aerodrome and Royal Air Force establishments at Aboukir. As stated in the last-mentioned letter, the Council are willing to continue for the present to hold this land on lease if suitable arrangements can be made, and fmm the information at presem in their possession they are of the opinion that the grant of a Ipng lease with option of renewal would obviate the need for expropriation. They propose, therefore, to authorise the Air Officer Commanding, Royal Air Force, Egypt, to effect a settlement on these lines (subject to confirmation by this Department of the actual terms of the lease) in consultation with Viscount Allenby, and trust that Earl Curzon of Kedleston will concur in the adoption of this course. I am. &c. F. A. WEBSTER. ' No. 382. Field-Marshal. Viscount Allenby to Earl Curzon.—(Received December 15.) (No. 566.) My Lord, Cairo, November 20, 1919. IN my telegram No. 1581§ of the 14th. November I reported to your Lordship that the Zaghlulists had arranged to commemorate on the 13th November the anniversary of Saad Zaghlul's visit to the Residency in 1918. The following is a summary of the chief events which took place on that day ;— Prayer meetings were held at the different Coptic churches, the most important being that at St. Mark's Church in Cairo, where leading Zaghlulists and sheikhs from the Azhar wore amongst those present. After prayers speeches were made, some of them seditious in character. A necessity for union among Egyptians in their struggle for independence was insisted upon, and it was also urged that demonstrations should continuously take place. Subsequently to the prayer meetings people collected at the house of Mahmoud Pasha Soliman, the head, in Saad Zaghlul's absence, of the latter's party in Egypt. Further speeches were delivered there. Later a large meeting took place at the Azhar University where speakers insisted on the necessity of continuing the struggle. Demonstrations in the streets followed, but were broken up-by the police. Demonstrations also took place on this day in Alexandria, the police helped by Egyptian troops dispersed them and no untoward incident occurred. On Friday the 14th November at Alexandria after the noon prayer in the Abou-el-Abbas Mosque, speeches were made and demonstrations formed. The demonstrators came into contact with the police and a detachment of the Egyptian , army. The police report that the Egyptian troops did not give them as much help as ' was possible, and an enquiry is being held into the conduct of the officer concerned. The crowd set fire to an army lorry and attacked a police station with stones. They were dispersed, but met a tram containing two British officers ; one of them was the aide-de- camp to His Highness the Sultan. The crowd stoned the car and the officers-had to take refuge in a'cafe, where they were finally rescued by the police. At 6 P.M. order was restored. The casualties wefe 2 police inspectors and 27 non-commissioned oflicers and men hurt by stones, while 14 of the public were treated by the first aid society ,and 102 arrests were made. The statement of policy referred to in my telegram No. 1582 of the 14th November was published in the local press on the 1.5th and 16th November. The entire Nationalist press bitterly attacked the declaration which they urged must be condemned as incompatible with a claim for complete independence. In face of this storm of indignation and invective the expression of sensible opinions and any reasonable examination of the terms of the declaration have been impossible, and moderate No. 109. t No. 343. No. 1«9. § No. 287. r. o. OPYRIGHT - NOT TO ~B E 'fi't P~ROD U C F D~ " P H O T OC K A P H I C A LI Y~ W'l T H O U'l._ P E Rtfl S S I O N 178 journals have so far, generally speaking, refrained from editorial comments• . It is of some interest to note in this connection that freedom of the press as conceived by the Extremists is a freedom to express their own views in language however intemperate while denying the right of Egyptians with more moderate opinions to voice them | except under the fear of hurt either to themselves or their property. < In consequence of violent articles that appeared in two pf the Extremists papers, , the " Mahroussa " and " Afkar," I have suppressed their publication .until further order. Mahmoud Pasha Soliman, Saad Zaghlul's representative here, has published' in the " Ahram " of the 16th November a statement (a copy is enclosed) with regard to the declaration of policy of His Majesty's Government. As I consider that the Central Committee (Ligna Markazieh), of which he is president, is to a large extent responsible for the present unrest, I have warned him as well as Ibrahim Pagha Said and Abdurrahman Fahmy,* vice-president and secretary of this committee, to refrain from political agitation in any form. I also ordered the two pashas to proceed to their country estates and Abdurrahman Fahmy to remain quiet in his house in Cairo'. Demonstrations have also taken place subsequent to the publication of the statement of policy. ' On the 1.5th November except for some very minor demonstrations no incident occurred in Cairo. In Alexandria on the evening of the 15th instant a small demonstration (if 200 effendis met a number of soldiers who were waiting to board trams. The military authorities reported that a shot was fired by the demonstrators at the soldiers, who started a counter-demonstration and broke up that of the effendis. The assistant pruvost-marshal who arrived to collect the men was stoned by the crowd, and other soldiers on trams were attacked. Order was restored at midnight. Some shots were fired about 10 P.M. and the bodies of two people were found by the police in the streets, but who was responsible for their death has not been ascertained. , The events which, took place on the 16th November in Cairo and Alexandria I have already reported to your Lordship in my telegram No 1588 of the 16th November. The casualties in Cairo amongst the demonstrators were eleven killed and seventy- * eight wounded (ten seriously). The demonstrators in Cairo consisted largely of students who had been temporarily refused admission to their schools for serious breaches of discipline. They were reinforced by the usual street roughs and riff-raff. On the 17th November no demonstrations of any importance took place, but the funerals of persons who had been killed the previous day were largely attended both in Cairo and Alexandria. On the 18th November there were mild demonstrations all day in Cairo and a British soldier fired and killed a man who threatened him. In Alexandria a demonstration largely composed of roughs endeavoured to march to the centre of the town. For some time it was held up and controlled by the police, but finally tried to break through. The police fired and the casualties amongst the crowd are reported as two killed and fourteen wounded. Later an angry crowd attacked the Jews in the* Jewish quarter and some shops were broken into and two set on fire. Order waa restored by the police and Egyptian troops. A further attack was made in another quarter on Jewish shops but was quickly dealt with. At 3 P.M. although the town was" quieter the Commandant of Police decided to hand it over to the military authorities as he considered- further outbreaks might occur with which he might be unable to deal. At 3'30 r.M. the military authorities took over control. Recently a party calling itself the " National Liberal Party " has come into a certain prominence Its political views are more moderate than that of the Extremists and/ although it has made no open declaration to this effect, I am informed it is prepared to advise its adherents to come before the Milner Mission and make known their demands. I understand that at present it has a small following in the provinces and that some of the less violent Azharists are contemplating joining its ranks. It controls the newspaper " Al Minbar." I have, &c. ALLENBY, P.M. " As these two pashas refused to obey the order they have beeu arrested. ' [2839J '2 S 2 f.o. 316 Enclosure in No. 382. i > The Central Committee of the Delegation to the Etgyptian Nation. \ (Translation.) AFTER quoting the circular issued by the Residency, the Central Committee added that this pronouncement is contrary to : — 1. The principles of right and justice. 2. The Treaty of London, signed by England and other countries in 1840, which guaranteed the independence of Egypt for which the Egyptians shed their blood. 3. The sixty official promises made by England to leave Egypt. 4. The principles for which the Allies fought—viz., to give liberty to the small nations and abolish brute force in politics. \ ' 5. The principles upon which the armistice and peace are possible, and the principles upon which the League of Nations is to be founded.