◆ SpookStack

HHE NIGHT )MACLEA DRANK A! BOTTLE OF MY WHISKY Front-BALPH IZZARD : Nicosia, Tuesday. ‘S Donald Maclean a guiding hand in Russia’s inter- vention in Middle East affairs ? As an unsuspecting iiend of Maclean when he was at the British Embassy Cairo, I should say this may well be so. | | I arrived in Cairo in January 11950. armed with a letter from | Washington friends introduc- ing me to “the young, charm- ing and intelligent head of Chancery at the British Embassy.” As head of Chancery, Maclean knew all the secrets of the British Mission in Egypt. He would also have examined at leisure copies of all "top secred’ documents passing between the Foreign Office and our ambassq- dors in the Middle East. He o Jolusly studied them closely. A whole bottle I remember that he arrived un- efpectedly at my Cairo flat one Night, settled into a chair, and proceeded io give a masterly analysis of the entire Middle East position, going on into the early hours of the morning. . He betraved no secrets. He fave me what Journalists call a “background briefing.” As such, it was first-class. And while he talked he drank almost an entire bottle of whisky. After I had poured two drinks *. is gto + Startled He seemed briefly startled, Tegovered rapidly and muttere “Wo comment.” I fave often wondered whether he then suspected I knew more! about his background than, of course, I did. | The Russians obviousiv “have their own advisers on Middle East nat | affairs, But @ man like Maclean, who n can expertly assess British or American reaction to any possible Kremlin move, must be invaluable to them, . Russia may not wish danger- iously to defeat British and Ameri- ‘can policy in the Middie East, and ‘thus risk an all-out war. But she may wish to expand her influence in that area till it matches that of the Western Powers, thus achieving another territorial stalemate. And this, if I judge his chayac- jter fcorrectly, is exactly nat ‘Donfud Maclean would like to Bes. ritain denie Maclean letter A FOREIGN OFFICE statement yesterday denied an Amcrican newspaper report that a letter had been found in the British Embassy library in Cairo addressed to Don- ald Maclean, written in May 1950. and containing coded messages. “No letter addressed to Donald Maclean has been found.” said the Foreign Office. “A letter was found, dated June 7, 1951, writ- ‘ten from an address in the U.S. ito a third person, clearly not Maclean.” The New York Her«id- Tribune said yesterday qhat the alleged jet- ter} suggested that Donald Mpc- each for us from a full bottle, he} [leah was receiving secret Amdri- suggested I ieave:the bottle at his| j cad documents from a contact} in cow, “to save you leaving your| | thd U.S. Embassy in Cairo. enair It was the last time T saw him. His spectacular breakdown oc-! curred two weeks later. : Only once during that last lope ednversation did he appear at all . ppt out. That was when I asked hi 7 about the strength of the Egyb- : igh a Communist Party. —_ / , = -_ ee 3H Wa! . TOT TA ne mente ts Cc BO Bee Neti Te nye 2414 “oe . go lee 5 a. Ras a be ktarte nh 22 is ao a we - * “ ‘ * a: . doy 2 _ ~ . ~ ¥ » es - . 7 . - . . al . * 7 ad . eee 7 ore . . ny Ae Ren emer > 9 ena A OU NS