BRITISH ATTITUDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1943, Page 4

BRITISH ATTITUDE

TOWARDS THE LEBANON CRISIS DEFINED BY SIR E. SPEARS. ONLY FIRST STEP TAKEN YET. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.5 a.m.) LONDON, November 23. The French acting Delegate-General in Lebanon, M. Chataigneau, announced the reinstatement of the Lebanese Chamber, and also said that the appointment of M. Edde as Provisional Administrator had been cancelled. In a statement to the Press in Beirut, General Sir E. Spears (British Minister) defined the British attitude towards the Lebanon crisis. “Britain has made it clear that the release of the imprisoned President and Ministers is considered only a first step towards a satisfactory solution of the crisis,” General Spears said. “I have reason to believe that the solution we have in mind is not very different from that of General Catroux. It remains to be seen whether General de Gaulle and the French Committee will come to the same realisation quickly enough. It has already been made abundantly clear to the French that we are vitally interested in the maintenance of order in this area, which is of the highest importance to us from the military viewpoint.”