§ 64. Mr. PALINGasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether lie has any information to give the House with regard to the present position of affairs in Abyssinia?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Viscount Cranborne)His Majesty's Government have no information that, since the capture of Addis Ababa on 5th May and of Harar and Diredawa shortly afterwards, there has been any great extension of the area occupied by the Italian forces during the concluding stages of the campaign. Reports from Western Abyssinia indicate the existence of considerable unrest and general insecurity, a feature of the latter being the hostility between the Galla and Amhara elements in the population. Having regard to the possibility of disorder in this part of the country, His Majesty's Consulates at Mega and Maji have been temporarily closed in view of the impossibility of ensuring the safety of their staffs.