740.0011 European War 1939/12838: Telegram
The Minister in Egypt (Kirk) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 6—8:10 a.m.]
858. My 819, June 25 [26], 4 p.m. The Legation is confidentially informed that the British Ambassador has recently been approached indirectly by the Wafd27 regarding the declaration of Cairo and other places in Egypt as open cities. Although the move is regarded essentially as a political maneuver of the Wafd to regain political prestige the British appear to be somewhat perturbed owing to the serious consequences which might result if the Wafd deviated from its policy of inactive opposition and undertook a campaign of active opposition to the Government and the British on an issue so potentially inflammable as the open city question. As a consequence the Embassy is understood to be consulting with the British military on the matter but as far as is known no decision has as yet been reached. It is understood in this connection that certain British circles would prefer the maintenance of the policy of attempting to avert an attack on Cairo by threatening to bomb Rome in retaliation but that it is a question whether under existing circumstances such a threat would be as effective as in the past in respect to Cairo or as it was believed to have been in assuring the protection of Athens.
As regards the general question of agitation for return of the Wafd to power the following are reasons which the British [apparent omission] for opposing such action at this time: (1) the desire to avoid giving offense to the palace which is anti-Wafdist; (2) the disruptive [Page 283] effect of holding elections under present disturbed conditions; (3) hesitancy to dispense with the services of Sirry Pasha28 who has been cooperating satisfactorily with the British; (4) the tactical advantage of withholding consent to the return of the Wafd as a trump card to be played only as a last resort to meet a particularly serious situation. In this latter connection it may be noted that the British authorities realize full well that the Wafd as the only political party in Egypt having an important national following is definitely a factor with which to reckon and consequently the British have exerted a constant effort to maintain friendly relations with its leaders in order to avoid immediate difficulty and also in anticipation of the probable return of the Wafd one day to power. This policy of temporization has thus far been fairly successful, but it involves, nevertheless, a certain risk owing to the difficulty of Wafd leaders to acquiesce there and at the same time maintain their following.