‘

Pe ame

a a

Aly

—

‘stern powers

Noun

8 a free hand.

@ Second Suez Canal Conference

he document setting forth the aims of the association was too
for French liking, he indicated, and it dodged the question of
eyment of canal dues to the association instead of to Egypt. Ea
@ French hope of direct action, in economic, military or any .

form, had obviously disappeared and Pineau was concerned with

ie € Declaration providing for the establishment of a Suez users
Hh Wig Mtion’’ issued by the conference has been definitely supported

poet reservation only by Britain and U.S.

te poate

t countries have re-

vp tte
' bern €matter back to their

Mcateg and several have
Rare) Strong doubts,

terest an international
: Mision have ended in such

‘ a -

ting aS has been set for the
“terme Members of ithe
tether © Must definitely say
I the their governments
ial F. 8ssociation.

ia for jtecments have been
patent me Immediate estab-
Mthins «21 administrative
ON re € association.
Mosc have been made for

has been taken
done if Egypt
0 the associa-

Use
tin to tark t

e
Pirrmet® Teplies of all the
Mon —"S are received in
ee Wi)’ @Mother confer-
© called, at which
Eley . Vl be represented

ion ee Society, or-

we
nie

Ww
th ent

lawyers, has issued an expert
opinion that there is no sub-
stance in law for the contention
that refusal to allow the canal
users’ association to function
would be a breach by Egypt
of the 1888 Convention. The
association could not claim, as
of right, to participate in oper-
ating or administering the
canal.)

The declaration issued by
the conference says that the
canal users’ association will
assist members in exercise of
their rights “with due regard
for the rights of Egypt.”

It will promote the transit
of the canal by the vessels of
member nations and “seek the
cooperation of the competent
Egyptian authorities for this
purpose.”

It will receive and disburse
canal dues which any user of
the canal “may pay” to the
association. This means that
payment of the dues to the
association instead. of to the
Egyptian government is at the

yprus strikes
” protest hangings

NICOSIA

©n a mourning strike last week in commemor-

Te, . ‘ —
Bathe + Young Cypriots hanged in Nicosia central prison.

Ret ant
i ic
"y 1 Poutsoft
viti Teedom,”

None Aiticers ordered
tthe t@oved ty down, so

popped and all
Sed, police went
ore threatening

Prosecution
Pen. They re-
ir names wére
© prosecution.

bom Here

, ous] i
ne t y<=Into a
Mattia he town during a

; ths f er Vice I :
. ‘ > t car
Re TOm, the ar a

banners were strung across a street near
athedral in the heart of the city saying “Mavro-
Ve in eS. 8nd Panayides sacrificed their lives to help

Workers at the British mili-
tary bases staged protest
strikes against the hanging,
defying the British law which
makes such strikes illegal.
Workers marched out also
from the British-owned Limni
copper mines.

The three Cypriots, one aged
23 and two aged 22, met their
death calmly, but the whole
prison rang with the frenzied
wails and yells of the other
prisoners, mourning their fel-
lows and crying out angrily
against British repression.

Then the prison lapsed into
uneasy silence.

US|

DANGER
HIGHLY
INFLAMMABLE fis

oS

ee ee

luez meet ends in discord

LONDON
once the bright hope of
ended last week in a babel of conflicting voices
Series of vague aspirations.
Ven France, one of the three moving spirits of the conference,
Matrelled with her British and American partners.
€ split became public when French Foreign Minister Pineau
eed that France could not support the Suez canal users’ associ-

discretion of each member —
and therefore this economic
weapon against Egypt has vir-
tually been abandoned.

In fact, it is expected that
only Britain and the U.S. will
refuse to pay dues to Egypt.

It will assist in dealing with
any practical problems arising
from the failure of the Suez
Canal adequately to serve its
customary and intended pur-
pose and will “study forthwith
means that may render it

feasible to reduce dependence
on the canal.”

This last statement is the
only passage under which an
economic boycott of Suez
could be undertaken by send-
ing ships round the Cape in-
stead of through the canal.
But it is purposely vague, and
it was stated’ by one delega-
tion after the conference that
the idea of a boycott was dead.

The declaration proposes a
council on which each member

shall be represented, an “ex-
ecutive group” and an admin-

istrator serving under the
executive group.
This is a very different

affair from the original plan
for a users’ association an-
nounced with such a flourish
by Britain, France and the
U.S. That organisation was
to hire pilots, control traffic,
collect dues, and in general,
take over the canal.

Egypt proves it can run canal
despite withdrawal of pilots

The Western attempt to stop Suez Canal traffic by bringing out the foreign

day last week.

LONDON

pilots has failed — a week after the pilots withdrew, 38 vessels sailed through on one

Over six days of last week, using its own pilots, Egypt took 217 ships through

the canal.

Egypt also claims that the
West’s economic blockade has
failed too. In Cairo last week
Dr. Mohammed Abu Nossier,
minister of commerce, said
that Egypt’s foreign trade had
not been affected by the freez-
ing of her assets abroad.

Because of the Western fin-
ancial blockade Egypt had con-
cluded non-sterling payment
agreements and the prices of
the goods it was now buying,
chiefly from the Soviet Union
and the People’s Democracies,
“proved to be at least 30 per-
cent lower than those of
French and British goods.”

Trade missions at present in
Egypt include those from the
Nederlands, Pakistan, Chile,
Argentine and China. A Soviet
agricultural mission is touring
the country.

Egypt has thus got through
the initial period of running
the canal on its own and the
worst two months of the
Western financial blockade.

To replace pilots withdrawn
Egypt is recruiting increasing
numbers of foreign pilots to
maintain the position that the
canal is run by an Rgyptian-

international team.

Fourteen Soviet pilots, four
Greeks, four Norwegians, four
Germans and one Swede and
one Italian are among the
ships masters undergoing train-
ing.

The Egyptian authority
hopes to have 100 men to take
shipping through by the end
of October. The present num-
ber is 70.

Streamlined courses of in-
struction have been organiz-
ed and it is expected that some
of the pilots may soon b2 able
to take small vessels through,
leaving more experienced pil-
ots to handle the larger ships.

Egyptian papers report that
20 French master mariners,
12 Indian Hoogly River pilots
29 Chinese Yangtze pilots and
pilots from Poland, Italy and
other European countries are

_already in the country or are

on their way.

Earlier, Egypt had denounc-
ed the instructions to foreign
pilots in Suez to walk out of
their jobs as “a conspiracy
worked out beforehand to ob-
struct navigation in the Suez
Canal.”

On the authority of the An-

glo-French directors of the
former Suez company, typed
directions were circulated te
every former employee in the
canal ordering him’ to stop
work.

Dropping all pretense that
such action was being taken
by the pilots at their own
initiative, the former company
offered “special leave and pro-
portional pensions” to eVery
one of its former employees
who would refuse to work for
the Egyptians and apply im-
mediately for an exit visa.

Pilots were offered up to
three years’ salaries to quit
their jobs.

While Egypt is daily grow-
ing more confident of its abili-
ty to handle the Suez situation,
Western countries are now at
last beginning to consider tre
cost to themselves of their
blind refusal to negotiate.

W. L, de Vries, director gen-
eral of shipping in the Neder-
lands, said last week that if
shipping avoided the Suez
Canal it would increase the
cost of oil transport to West-
ern Europe by 60 percent.
Transport costs of other goods
would also rise.

SEPTEMBER 28, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 3