Intelligence, Surveillance and Secret Warfare THE TWILIGHT OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE British Intelligence and Counter- Subversion in the Middle East, 1948−63 Chikara Hashimoto The Twilight of the British Empire Intelligence, Surveillance and Secret Warfare Series editors: Richard J. Aldrich, Rory Cormac, Michael S. Goodman and Hugh Wilford Published and forthcoming titles The Arab World and Western Intelligence: Analysing the Middle East, 1956–1981 Dina Rezk Chile, the CIA and the Cold War: A Transatlantic Perspective James Lockhart The CIA and the Pursuit of Security: History, Documents and Contexts Huw Dylan, David Gioe and Michael S. Goodman www.edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/isasw The Twilight of the British Empire British Intelligence and Counter- Subversion in the Middle East, 1948–63 Chikara Hashimoto Edited by Rory Cormac Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting- edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Chikara Hashimoto, 2017 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 11/14 Sabon by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 1045 8 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 1046 5 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 1047 2 (epub) The right of Chikara Hashimoto to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). Contents Two-Part Tribute Foreword vi Acknowledgements xi List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1. Fighting the ‘Communist Menace’ Overseas 10 2. Security Training and Liaison in Anti-Communist Measures 31 3. The Defence of the Realm in the Middle East 62 4. Prerequisites of Intelligence Cooperation 88 5. Conflicting Interests in Anti-Communist Measures 114 6. The Use and Abuse of State Power and the Limits of British Influence 146 Conclusion: The Twilight of the British Empire in the Middle East 170 Notes 178 Bibliography 258 Appendix: Security Intelligence Middle East Charter 277 Index 279 Two-Part Tribute Foreword Dr Chikara Hashimoto 24 October 1975–22 September 2016 Part One Dr Chikara Hashimoto died suddenly on 22 September 2016 at the age of forty. The Twilight of the British Empire: British Intelligence and Counter-Subversion in the Middle East, 1948–63 was completed in 2016 and is here taken forward to publica- tion in Edinburgh University Press’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Secret Warfare series. Some drafting amendments were made by the series editors, Richard J. Aldrich, Michael S. Goodman, Hugh Wilford and, in particular, Rory Cormac. These efforts, and those of Jen Daly at Edinburgh University Press, have expedited publication of Dr Hashimoto’s first and, tragically, last book. Chikara arrived at Aberystwyth University with his wife, Sawa, in 2004. He studied intelligence as an undergraduate and as a Master’s student, before embarking on his PhD in 2009, the year that Sawa gave birth to their daughter, Miyaka. The family lived in Aberystwyth until they moved to the University of Sharjah when Chikara become an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations. At Aberystwyth he established himself as a central figure in the Centre for Intelligence and International Security Studies in the Department of International Politics. At Sharjah his academic career flourished as a teacher and scholar, and his contribution to the field of intelligence studies gathered further momentum. vi Two-Part Tribute Foreword The Twilight of the British Empire: British Intelligence and Counter-Subversion in the Middle East, 1948–63 is an important book for three main reasons. Firstly, it is a notable contribution to understanding Britain’s role in the Middle East. It provides the first systematic study of the neglected aspect of intelligence and counter-subversion policy during a critical phase of the Cold War and the demise of British imperialism. It provides significant insights into Britain’s relationship with states that were mostly tangential to Britain’s colonial heritage but whose potential Cold War role London sought to cultivate. Secondly, it casts light on the intelligence perspectives and practices of countries whose domestic and regional agendas were often at variance with British Cold War priorities. The book illuminates the development of bilateral and multilateral secu- rity and intelligence relationships and provides new perspectives on intelligence liaison within the region. The analysis of the relationships between Western democracies and non-democratic states resonates with contemporary challenges in international relations. Much of the research is drawn from Chikara’s doctor- ate, which won the prestigious Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize in 2014, awarded by the British Society for Middle East Studies to the best PhD thesis on a Middle Eastern topic. Thirdly, it demonstrates Chikara’s formidable qualities as a researcher, including his commitment to multi-archival and international research, and to meeting the challenges of studying secret intelligence. The book is both testimony to his academic vision and evidence of his ambitions to further the scope and methodological horizons of intelligence studies. At Aberystwyth, and in his work as Assistant Editor of the journal Intelligence and National Security, Chikara became a very highly respected and well-liked figure, admired for his integrity, kindness and exemplary diligence. As a colleague he was univer- sally popular and unfailingly dependable. His commitment to the life of the PhD community in the Department of International Politics was recognised by his receipt of the Jana Fritzsche Award in 2012 for his outstanding contribution to the community. Notwithstanding the tragedy of his early death and the sense of loss felt by his family, friends and colleagues, Chikara achieved vii The Twilight of the British Empire so much in so short a time in his professional and in his per- sonal life. The Twilight of the British Empire: British Intelligence and Counter-Subversion in the Middle East, 1948–63 is an important contribution to international history and intelligence studies and testament to Chikara Hashimoto’s ability, efforts and achievements. Len Scott Emeritus Professor of International History and Intelligence Studies Aberystwyth University 31 January 2017 Part Two Chikara Hashimoto’s untimely death is a terrible loss to his devoted wife, Sawa, his beautiful young daughter, Miyaka, his loving mother, Shoko, brother, Makoto, and wider family, friends, students, colleagues and the world of intelligence studies. Chikara was a historian of much promise and this book should have been only the beginning of a fine career; instead, it must serve as a memorial to him. He greatly admired scholarship, loved his research and was fascinated by the history and current opera- tions of intelligence agencies. His dream was to become a scholar and teacher. He achieved it – but for too short a time. This book began as a third-year undergraduate dissertation and became a Master’s dissertation and then a PhD thesis. I supervised all three, and it was an honour to mentor such a kind, good- humoured, thoughtful, diligent and intelligent man. I will cherish Chikara’s memory for as long as I live. Chikara’s determination is reflected in his career path. He began undergraduate study relatively late in life, at Aberystwyth University in 2004, at the age of twenty-eight. He prepared for his undergraduate studies by learning English for two years, first in Salisbury and then in Reading. It was in Salisbury in 2002 that he met his wife, Sawa, who gave unstinting support to his efforts to become, first, a student and then a scholar in the field of international history. His PhD thesis, entitled ‘British viii Two-Part Tribute Foreword Intelligence, Counter-Subversion and “Informal Empire” in the Middle East’, was awarded the Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize in 2014 for the best PhD thesis on a Middle Eastern topic by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. The Society’s judges rightly considered it to be ‘an original and thoughtful explora- tion of a little-studied subject’ and praised the good judgement it displayed and the ‘exemplary determination’ with which it had been researched. Chikara’s thesis would eventually become this book, which sheds much new light on Britain’s attempts in the early Cold War to use security cooperation with the police forces and security ser- vices of key Middle Eastern states to combat Soviet Communism and maintain British influence. It is an important addition to the historical literature on British intelligence and the international relations of Middle Eastern states in the early Cold War. Had Chikara lived longer, he would have become a signifi- cant historian of intelligence. When he died, he was already a successful teacher, admired by his students and valued by his colleagues. In 2012 he won an award for teaching excellence at Aberystwyth University, where he taught for several years as a graduate teaching assistant (2009–14), before moving to the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where he worked for the last two years of his life as an Assistant Professor of International Relations. The key to Chikara’s success as both teacher and colleague was his outstandingly pleasant and considerate nature. I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. In their tributes to him after his death, his students said how fondly they remembered his ‘bright smile’, and they recalled a question he often asked them in his classes: ‘Are you with me?’ His colleagues remembered him as a man with a striking concern for their welfare.