BRITAIN AND ITALY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 208, 3 August 1937, Page 9

BRITAIN AND ITALY

ATTEMPT AT RECONCILIATION. MR CHAMBERLAIN’S LETTER. ' ITALY BELIEVED WILLING. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received August 3, 9.50 a.m. LONDON, Aug. 2.

It is stated in Rome that there is no doubt that Signor Mussolini will reply to Mr Neville Chamberlain with as friendly a letter as that sent to him. It is understood in Rome that Mr Chamberlain emphasised that Britain desired to see Angloltalian relations replaced on the same basis as before the Abyssinian War. It is believed in London that Mr Chamberlain considers that if a general European reconciliation is achieved the' problems arising from the Spanish war will disappear. The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says that the letter of the Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain) to Signor Mussolini suggested a meeting qf the parties to the Locarno Pact in London in October.

The Foreign Secretary (Mr Anthony Eden) is already sounding Germany with a view to the attendance of Baron von Neurath.

The visit of the Italian Foreign Minister (Count Ciano) depends on Britain recognising Italy’s sovereignty in Abyssinia, which is largely dependent on the League Assembly’s forthcoming decision. Mr Chamberlain is desirous that the Abyssinian position should be clarified in order to remove the obstacle to European appeasement.

Replying to a cordial message from Signor Mussolini which the Italian Ambassador (Count Grandi) delivered last Tuesday, the British Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain) sent an important communi cation to the Duce, which, ivas .described as a personal letter of friendship. The text, was not. disclosed, but an official announcement that the. letter bad arrived in Rome was well received in Italian official circles,, reviving hopes of an Italo-British rapprochement.

“CORDIAL MEETING.” AMBASSADOR AND MINISTER. Received August 3. 9.55 a.m. ROME, Aug. 2. The British Ambassador, Sir Eric Drummond, had “a long and cordial meeting” with Count Ciano and discussed Mr Chamberlain’s letter and the state of Anglo-Italian relations. ITALIAN ACTIVITIES. EAR EAST PROPAGANDA. LONDON, August 2. While Signor Mussolini and Mr Chamberlain are talking friendship, Italy is fostering anti-British propaganda in the Near East, says the Daily Herald. Signor Mussolini desires to revive , the ancient Roman province of, Syria as an independent Arab State under Italian tutelage, comprising Palestine, modern Syria and Sinai. The Jews would be absorbed or eliminated.