Britain’s new Labor Government is anxious to put Britain on better terms with President Nasser of Egypt and other Arab rulers, according to the new Foreign Secretary, Patrick Gordon Walker. He emphasized this goal at a press conference but, at the same time, he stressed that it did not constitute any change in Britain’s support for Israel.
In its Middle East efforts, the Labor Government has one great advantage, he added. He said “it is not government of Suez”–a reference to Britain’s participation in the 1956 attack on Egypt–“and does not carry that very great burden in terms of relations with the Arab states.”
The Daily Mail headlined the interview: “Britain Puts Out the Mat for Nasser” and suggested that Nasser might be invited to Britain by the new Government in an effort “to wipe the slate clean after Suez.” The newspaper said such a visit would be a climax to a series of moves planned to put Britain on better terms with Egypt, one of them possibly a visit by a British Minister to Cairo.
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