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they were quickly put on trial and six were sent to the gallows. 227 The incident also

resulted in the arrest and removal of the powerless Naguib from the Presidency,

accused of conspiring with the extremists. Naguib was imprisoned on 14 November,

never to return to political life. 228

Most importantly, the signing of the treaty created the opportunity of

pushing towards an Egyptian-Israeli settlement, and so Plan Alpha was conceived.

Francis Russell of the American State Department and Sir Evelyn Shuckburgh the

then Under-Secretary in the FO overseeing Middle Eastern affairs were both

assigned by Eden and Dulles to develop the Plan. 229 However a great stumbling

block was placed early in negotiating a settlement between the two sides as the

Israelis resisted the idea of offering land repatriation, gained from the First Arab-

Israeli War, to the Arabs. The concessions involved, as Harold Macmillan noted: ‘the

establishment of a sovereign Arab right-of-way across the Negev’, linking Egypt with

Jordan. 230

In this confused and eventful regional environment, two events in Bahrain

hastened the creation of a unified nationalist front. The first being the closure of

Sawut Al-Bahrain (cf Chapter Two). The second was the withdrawal of Al-Bakir’s

passport by the Administration following the creation of the Cooperative

Compensation Fund. No explanation was provided in Belgrave’s diary or memoir,

227 ‘Shots at Col. Nasser: Premier Unhurt’, The Times, 27 October 1954, 6; ‘Executions in Cairo’, The
Times, 8 December 1954, 7; and see also J. Gordon, Nasser’s Blessed Movement (Oxford: 1992), 4.
228 ‘Naguib is Deposed as Coup Plotter by Egypt’s Junta: President Accused of Role in Attempt of
Terrorists to Assassinate Premier’, New York Times, 15 November 1954, 1; see also J. Lacouture, The
Demigods: Charismatic Leadership in the Third World (New York: 1970), 186; and Naguib, My Word…
For History, 186.
229 Charmley (ed.), Descent to Suez, 210-12.
230 H. Macmillan, Tides of Fortune (London: 1969), 631; and M.H. Heikal, Cutting the Lion’s Tail: Suez
Through Egyptian Eyes (London: 1986), 107, hereafter Cutting the Lion’s Tail.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 74