2 Professors Emphasize Confusion Surrounding Middle East Situation

Two faculty members have joined the rest of the world in admitting their confusion over the unstable Egyptian situation. Neither would even venture a guess as to the possible future of the rebellion-wracked nation.

William Thomson, James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic, called the present state of affairs "an impossible situation," with the outcome completely uncertain. He said that an Egyptian student here on a Fulbright Scholarship had told him that the new premier, Aly Maher Pasha, represented the aristocratic segment of the populace. The student added that Maher Pasha understood the British better than his predecessor, Mustapha Nahas Pasha of the popular Waflist party, and could deal with the foreigners more capably.

Expert on England, David E. Owen, professor of History, stated that at present there was "a temporary lull which may or may not produce later fireworks." The ouster of the Wafdist group and subsequent appointment of the new independent cabinet was necessitated by the emergency conditions, according to Owen. He was unsure whether or not Maher Pasha's government would meet with any success. "It must first," he said, "get a working agreement during the present breathing spell."