§ 99. Mr. E. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the untrue propaganda being put out by Cairo Radio; and what steps he is taking to counteract this and to make it know throughout the Arab world that the Egyptian army had been completely defeated by the Israeli army before the United Kingdom and France intervened.
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreI am aware of the preposterous claims made by Cairo Radio and of its distorted account of the fighting in the Sinai desert. All the evidence available to us indicates that the performance of all the Egyptian armed forces was very poor and that they proved themselves extremely incompetent. Steps have been taken throughout to ensure that the facts are heard in the Middle East. Apart from the full use made of all our normal channels of information, the requisitioning of the Sharq al Adna broadcasting station in Cyprus meant that full and accurate news could be transmitted in Arabic to the whole area, both by the British Broadcasting Corporation and by the "Voice of Britain."