883.00/1235: Telegram
The Minister in Egypt (Kirk) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:15 p.m.]
197. My 196, February 4, 11 a.m. I have just returned from the Palace where the King summoned me to inform me as the representative of a friendly power that at 3 o’clock today he had received an “ultimatum” to the effect that unless by 6 o’clock this evening Nahas were not charged with the formation of a Cabinet he, the King, must accept the consequences of such a refusal and the nature of what [Page 67] those consequences would be, the King added, was not a matter of any doubt.
The King stated that immediately upon the receipt of the communication from the British Ambassador he had consulted with all his advisors both official and private as well as with the leaders of the parties and that not only had they stated in writing their disapproval of this step by the Embassy but Nahas himself had declared in writing that he would refuse to form a Ministry under the existing conditions. These statements were being communicated to the British Ambassador by the Chief of the King’s Cabinet and while I was with His Majesty that official returned to the Palace to state that the British Ambassador had requested an audience with the King at 9 o’clock tonight which was granted.
In the urgency of the moment and the obvious stress prevailing at the Palace there was no opportunity for me to enter into any discussion with the King. I took the occasion, however, to impress upon His Majesty as effectively as possible the fact that at the present moment there was only one great issue in the world and that was the defeat of Hitler, that the United States and Great Britain and, I believed, his own country were bound to exert every effort to that end to the exclusion of any other consideration and that although I could not enter into any matters relating to the internal politics of his country, I profoundly hoped that he would be guided solely by the practical consideration of what contributed the maximum effort to win the war.
I am informed that the British troops in Cairo are already mobilized against eventualities.