سياسي خارجي ٣٥/٥٦٣٦ "مصر: التقارير السنوية ١٩٣٤-١٩٣٨" [و‎‎٢‎٥] (٣٤٢/٥٦)

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channel of communication between the Governor-General and the Egyptian
Government Amin Osman Pasha suggested that this condition might be observed
if the expert went to the Sudan charged with the task of studying economic and
commercial conditions as a kind of Resident Agent of the Sudan Committee
which was an offshoot of the Ministry of Commerce. Sir Stewart Symes was
consulted on his way through Egypt on leave, and agreement was finally reached
witn Amin Osnian Pasha for a reply to be given to the eftect that the Egyptian
Lroyernment had initiated discussions with the necessary authorities and did not
anticipate any difficulty in reaching a settlement. The parliamentary question
was subsequently postponed indefinitely. In conversation with the Egyptian
Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works in London in August, Sir Stewart
Symes suggested that the Egyptian appointed to this post might be either a
commercial agent accredited to the Sudan Government or could be attached to
an appropriate Department of that Government. Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha
expressed his preference for a commercial agent with his own office and staff to
be established at Khartum as a charge on the Egyptian Government. Sir Stewart
Symes agreed to this. Early in December the Council of Ministers approved the
appointment of Abdulla Abaza Bey to this post. He had previously held com
mercial posts and was recently elected Deputy and made president of the
Parliamentary Committee for Commerce and Industry. It is understood that the
Sudan Government were satisfied with this appointment.
Egyptian forces.
100. No further Egyptian troops were moved to the Sudan during the year.
The presence of the Egyptian battalion already in the Sudan led to no difficulties
apart from one or two minor misunderstandings which some sections of Egyptian
opinion tried to exaggerate. One of these concerned the class in which Egyptian
officers travel on the Sudan railways, and another the right of the Egyptian troops
to parade with fixed bayonets at Ramadan. It was found that, in spite of the
agreement reached with Ihe Egyptian authorities in 1937 (annual report for 1937,
paragraph 198), the British Officer Commanding the Troops in the Sudan was
using the title of General Officer Commanding. After some correspondence, the
War Office confirmed their agreement to the title,. Major-General Commanding.
Some press agitation was caused in Egypt by the return to Egypt of Ali Abdel
Latif, an Egyptian officer who had been imprisoned for mutiny after the 1924
disturbances and had subsequently lost his reason.
Irrigation.
101. The Egyptian Government officially took over the Jebel Aulia Dam on
its completion on the 28th April. The Prime Minister wrote to the Governor-
General expressing appreciation for all the facilities rendered by the Sudan
Government and remarked that the co-operation of the Sudan authorities had not
been less because this was the first enterprise undertaken by the Egyptian Govern
ment in*the Sudan in which there was no direct interest to the Sudan. In Sep
tember, owing to the unusually high Nile flood, the Egyptian irrigation authorities
maintained the level of water behind the dam at a greater height than was laid
down in a document known as “ The WMrking Arrangements for Operating the
Jpbel Aulia Dam,” which had been compiled for the use of the Egyptian Minister
of Public Works in consultation with the Sudan authorities. The Acting Governor-
General wrote to the Prime Minister expressing surprise that this action should
have been taken without the previous consent of the Sudan Government and
suggesting certain time limits for lowering the height of water, which would
make the measures taken by the Egyptian authorities acceptable to the Sudan
Government. These suggestions were accepted by the Egyptian Government.
102. Discussions were carried on during the year between the technical
experts of the Egyptian and Sudan Governments regarding the Sudan’s desire
for a small increase in the amount of water allotted to them under the JNile
Waters Agreement between His Majesty’s Government and the Egyptian Govern
ment. The Sudan Government hope, by increasing the area of land under irriga
tion in the Sudan, to offset some of the loss of revenue consequent on withdrawal
of the Egyptian subvention (see above).