Back from the Abyss

Egypt peered over the edge of the abyss, was frightened by what it saw, and drew back.

Cairo became calm again. Armored cars and cavalry ceaselessly patrolled the streets. Guards protected the foreign embassies. A special government communique promised to protect the "interests and freedoms" of foreign residents.

King Farouk and Egypt's wealthy ruling pashas had read the danger signal in the daylong, $300 million mob orgy fortnight ago in Cairo's streets. It was no spontaneous outburst of patriots angered by the British troops who killed 46 Egyptian policemen at Ismailia the day before (TIME, Feb. 4). The riot was blueprinted and timed to the instant. Rioters struck at 220 different points within 30 minutes. Jeep-borne leaders coordinated the separate gangs, providing target directions, fuel and weapons.

Out of the Slums. Communists, anti-foreigner fanatics of the Moslem Brotherhood, and left-wing rebels worked together, directing the mobs that swept out from Cairo's unspeakable slums behind the great Moslem divinity school of Al-Azhar. At that point, the irresponsible Wafd government, unable to control the mobs it so often had incited, fell.

The new Premier, 68-year-old Aly Maher Pasha, worked 18 hours a day restoring order. Simultaneously, he worked to ease the lot of the destitute whose unrest threatens Egypt. He cut kerosene and sugar prices, started investigations into rice and textile profiteering, ordered his ministers to give up their fancy limousines and limit themselves to one Ford apiece.

He also made receptive gestures toward the British. Ambassador Sir Ralph Stevenson was received in audience by King Farouk for the first time since Egypt abrogated its treaty with Britain in October. Maher Pasha announced: "We are ready to consider any understanding Mr. Eden might propose."

Toward a Solution. The crisis was by no means over. Egyptians, from King Farouk on down, still wanted the British to get out; no Premier could yield on this and survive. But the old drift and truculence were gone. London also pulled back. Anthony Eden soothingly told the House of Commons he thought it possible to find a solution that would satisfy Egypt's "legitimate national aspirations" without jeopardizing "the security of the free world." That solution rested on selling Egypt on a Middle East command, in which Egypt, Britain, the U.S., France and Turkey would jointly replace the British as defenders of the Suez Canal. Aly Maher was interested, and guarded hope filled the air.

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