883.00/1167: Telegram
The Chargé in Egypt ( Hare ) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 20—7 a.m.]
125. The Prime Minister,58 acting in the capacity of Minister for Foreign Affairs, asked me to call at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning and registered a protest regarding an article entitled, “Britain in the Near East”, which appeared in the January 1941 issue of Foreign Affairs and in which certain references are made to King Farouk and Egypt regarded by the Egyptian Government as derogatory. He cited a number of passages, particularly the second paragraph of page 377 in which reference is made to the King as a Quisling, and requested that I transmit a protest to the American Government.
I replied that I deeply regretted that references regarded by the Egyptian Government as offensive to Egypt and the King should have appeared in an American publication and said that I would transmit the protest of the Prime Minister to the Department in accordance with his request. However, I pointed out that although the American Government deplored any action by private American citizens or organizations which might give offense to the people of other friendly countries there are no laws or regulations in the United States providing for Government control of the press, the freedom of which is guaranteed by the Constitution. I added that given the long and well-established ties of friendship and respect existing between the United States and Egypt it was obvious that any such occurrence as this could only be regarded as an isolated incident.
The Prime Minister said that he realized that American law was such but that he felt convinced that some means could be found for [Page 318] the prevention of such incidents. I thereupon repeated along similar lines my previous explanation of the inability of the American Government to exert control in such matters.
I may add that although the Prime Minister gave the impression of feeling that the matter was sufficiently serious to call for formal protest he did not ask that anything be done other than to transmit the protest to the American Government, nor was there evidence of strong resentment in his attitude except in referring to the author of the article. The Prime Minister said he was convinced that the article was not written by the person under whose name it was published but by a certain person known to him who was very familiar with Egypt and the Near East.
- Sirry Pasha.↩