Ismailia All British troops will be withdrawn from the three main Canal zone towns of Ismailia, Port Said and Suez under an agreement reached with the Egyptian authorities today.
The Egyptian Government announced in Cairo it had decided to take over the “liberation battalions” waging guerilla warfare against British troops holding the Suez Canal because “dangerous” elements had infiltrated into them.
The announcement said these elements were considered “dangerous for internal security.”
The British Ambassador, Sir Ralph Stevenson, left Cairo today for the Canal zone on what the Embassy called “a periodical visit to maintain contact with British Service chiefs there.”
About 2.500 British Air Force reinforcements have now been sent to the Suez Canal zone, the Air Ministry said in London last night.
Half of them are constructional workers and the others are tradesmen to replace Egyptian technicians and labourers who have walked out.
Evacuation of R.A.F. families is proceeding rapidly and only 200 of the 900 families to be pulled out remain.