IOR/L/PS/10/464

Papers relating to Britain’s position in Egypt at the beginning of the First World War. The papers cover: behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations between British Government officials and Arab and Muslim representatives; reports of anti-British or Egyptian-nationalist propaganda, much of which emanated from neutral Switzerland; and actions against British or Egyptian interests, undertaken by individuals associated with the German or Turkish Governments (Government officials, military officers, secret agents). Subjects covered include:

• The capture and interrogation of Robert Casimir Otto Mors, a German citizen who was a Lieutenant in the Alexandria City Police, and who had been recruited as a German secret agent with plans to coordinate a bombing campaign against British interests in Egypt. Papers include transcripts of interrogations and interviews with Mors (ff 315-323, ff 326-336).
• The activities and publications of the Club des Patriotes Egyptiens and its leader Dr M M Rifaat [Mansour Rifa’at], in Geneva, Switzerland. Papers include a pamphlet (in French) entitled L’Angleterre en decadence, published by the Club des Patriotes Egyptiens in July 1914, written by Professor L F Hoffmann, with a foreword by Rifaat (ff 250-280).
• A report entitled Turkish Military Preparations and Political Intrigues having an attack on Egypt as their object, written by Philip Perceval Graves, former Times correspondent in Constantinople (ff 189-206).
• Correspondence and reports relating to the situation in the western desert (Libyan desert), including a report entitled Notes on the Senussi Question, written by Wilfred Jennings Bramly, and letters exchanged between the British Government and Senussi leader El Sayed Ahmed El Sherif El Senussi [Ahmed Sharif As-Senussi] (ff 145-177).
• Correspondence exchanged between British Government officials and Aga Khan [Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III]. Papers include a note On the Situation in Egypt, co-authored by Aga Khan and M Abbas Ali Baig (ff 96-126).
• Correspondence regarding Egyptians living in Switzerland, who are regarded by the British Government as being ‘agitators’ (ff 37-46).
• Correspondence concerning an alleged plot to assassinate the Sultan of Egypt (ff 20-27).

Principal correspondents include: the Counsellor of the British Embassy at Cairo (Milne Cheetham); the British Envoy to the Swiss Confederation (Evelyn Grant-Duff); the Foreign Office (Louis du Pan Mallet); Aga Khan III (Sultan Mohammad Shah).