The Not Never Policy

On the day Governor Sir John Harding flew back to London to confer with the Eden government last week, his security forces announced the capture of 17 E.O.K.A. terrorists in a mountain sweep. The announcement was timed to support Sir John's report that the tough policy on Cyprus is starting to pay off. With sharp, soldierly precision, Harding told a closed-door meeting of 300 M.P.s at Westminster how it works: only when terrorism is stamped out will the "fertile vacuum" be created in which new, moderate Cypriot leaders will emerge.

Tories rose to their feet and applauded the doughty little soldier. Laborites remained seated in silence, and at the end of his 40-minute speech were obviously displeased by his cool toughness. Though he has 19,000 troops against a "hard core" of only 80 to 150 terrorists, Harding now considers that the job of restoring order, originally estimated to take until September, may take until "the end of the year."

The field marshal was adamant in his opposition to bringing back Archbishop Makarios from his Seychelles island exile. It still remains to be seen whether any other responsible Cypriot leader can be found to accept the British offer on self-determination, which still stands in all its negative ambiguity as laid down by Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd: "It is not the Government's position that the principles of self-determination can never be applicable to Cyprus."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.