HC Deb 13 November 1953 vol 520 cc101-4W
Brigadier Prior-Palmer

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has anything further to say about the Sudan in the light of developments since 5th November.

Mr. Eden

Yes. I have seen various statements attributed to the Egyptian Propaganda Minister, Major Salem, asserting that the Egyptian Government have faithfully carried out their side of the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement. I think I should make it clear that in the view of Her Majesty's Government these statements cannot be reconciled with the persistent line of conduct pursued by the Egyptian Government since last April. I mentioned, in my statement last week, the visit of Major Salem to Khartoum last August in connection with the attempts which had been openly made by the Egyptian Government, since the signing of the Agreement, to persuade the Sudanese political parties to present a single list of candidates at the elections. These attempts only ceased when it was made clear that the advice was unwelcome and would not be taken. Apart from the views which we all here share on the nature of régimes which go in for single list elections, this intervention was plainly inconsistent with the obligation to allow the Sudanese to hold their elections without outside interference.

I mentioned last week the continuous stream of propaganda in the Egyptian Press and radio. The Egyptian Government have also tried to influence the course of the elections by the expenditure of money on gifts for educational or religious purposes, by fetching to Egypt on sponsored visits large parties of Sudanese, and by similar devices. Officials of the Egyptian Irrigation Department at their various stations in the Sudan, the Egyptian Army Headquarters, and the Egyptian Economic Expert's Office in Khartoum have all been involved in these activities.

Early last month, Captain Mohammed Abu Nar, head staff secretary to the Egyptian Minister of Propaganda, installed himself in Khartoum and has since been in constant touch with leaders of one particular political party. About the same time, the Under Secretary for Sudan Affairs in the Egyptian Government transferred the scene of his operations to Khartoum: from there he distributes financial grants to Sudanese private schools in Khartoum and Gezira.

The appearance of these senior officials in Khartoum at this time and the activities they have engaged in can fairly be described as electioneering on the part of the Egyptian Government. They have been followed by an influx of other servants of the Egyptian Government of Sudanese origin who are ostensibly on leave, but an extraordinary leave timed to coincide with the election campaign, although they are not resident in the Sudan and have no votes. In one recent week, for example, no fewer than 1,100 such persons reached the Sudan by rail and river at Wadi Haifa. I am informed that many of these are engaged in electioneering, some of them in Egyptian army uniform.

In the face of such evidence, it is clear that the Egyptian Government have disregarded their pledge under the Agreement of last January to guarantee free elections—a pledge which was reaffirmed by General Neguib to the Minister of State on 28th March when he said: it is not the desire of the Egyptian Government to interfere with the complete freedom of the elections in the Sudan.

But more than this, the Egyptians have clearly shown that they have no intention of allowing the Sudanese people freely to choose their own future status. In a letter to a Sudanese leader earlier this summer, General Neguib declared that Egypt could only agree to an independent Sudan if it were united economically and militarily with Egypt. The letter was withdrawn only after it had received widespread publicity and evoked protests from the Sudanese. The same line of thinking is to be detected in Egyptian plans to "assist" the agricultural development of the Sudan. In a remarkably frank speech made by Major Salem in Alexandria last July, it was made clear that the Sudan's future role would be to produce food and raw materials to feed the people and industries of Egypt. It did not appear that cotton, on which the Sudan's economy depends, was to have any part in these plans.

The Egyptian Minister of Propaganda is reported to have said the other day that his Government has struggled for the liberty, dignity and independence of the Sudan. I think the cases I have quoted will give the House some idea of the kind of "liberty, dignity and independence" he has in mind. These activities have been accompanied by a stream of propaganda denouncing us as imperialists intent on reducing the Sudan to the status of a Colony.

In face of repeated provocative actions and statements we have maintained a patient and conciliatory attitude; but we are determined to do our utmost to ensure free elections and, thereafter, unfettered self-determination.