Washington, May 6, Representative Carl D, Vinson, Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee, yesterday said he favoured the U.S, Navy convoying American Arms shipments to Britain, Mr. Vinson said he favoured the convoying to begin "now,". "I am in favour of convoys if it becomes necessary to get materials there," Mr. Vinson said in an interview, tache House Naval Affairs Commit-Administratidn Viewpoint on naval ce Chairman frequently reflects the
matters but there were no indications he had consulted leaders regarding convoys.
Representative E, E. Cox, Democrat of Georgia, predicted that "we are going to. convoy and convoy right away,"
Representative Hamilton Fish, Republican of New York, in opposing the ship requisitioning bill, said Passage without any amendment would "be a virtual declaration of War" and charged that "every member of the President's Cabinet is an interventionist, They've been trying io get us into the war for the last year and a half,""—United Press, Croats Dissatisfied The Egyptian Government has decided to send a message to the Iraqi Government, says a statement issued by the Egyptian Prime Minister's office, according to the Cairo wireless last night, "Egypt, which is tied to Iraq by bonds of sympathy and friendship, hopes very sincerely that the cause of the incident which started this conflict will be removed, and that the usual good relations between Iraq and her great aly will be re-established, "The authorities ' in Iraq wndoubtedly will appreciate that grave responsibility rests on their shoulders, especially in these critical circumstances, We sincerely hope that both parties will reach a favourable solution of the present dispute, which will restore peace and tranquility to Iraq, and that the war will not be extended to that part of the world."
Successful British infantry patrols from Habbaniyah were carried out throughout Sunday night, states the latest communique issued by British General Headquarters in Cairo last night, On Sunday, there was inter-mittens shelling of the R.A.F. station at Habbanlyah by Iraqi artillery, It was not of a serious nature owing to constant air patrols maintained by British fighters and bombers, the communique adds.
A Beyreut message to the German news agency says British armoured cars attacked the Iraqi desert fort at Rutbah. "The attack was successfully repelled by Iraqi troops," the German despatch claims, There is no evidence of the arrival of German aircraft or officers in Iraq, it was stated in a review of the position in Iraq in military circles in Cairo, A spokesman estimated the total strength of the Iraqi air force at 120 planes of all types, hardly any of them modern.
An earlier communique from General Headquarters in Cairo declared:—"In Iraq, Iraqi military posted in the vicinity of Habbaniyah was rendered comparatively inactive yesterday by our aircraft, The garrison of Habbaniyah is intact, and has suffered very few casualties from the unprovoked Iraqi attack, "The majority of the Iraqi air force has already been destroyed by our air action, either while attempting to attack British camps or as a result of attacks by our air force on Iraqi air bases, "After attacking an unarmed British construction party which was in the vicinity, Iraqi forces on May 2 occupied Rutbah, In the Basra area our troops remain in occupation without interference.
The unarmed party captured at Rutbah mentioned in the British communique, consisted of three or four British officers and a few sappers, the remainder being local labourers. They were captured by a mobile Iraqi force, The spokesman said that the situation around Habbaniyah was "a little difficult and delicate." Apart from Basra and Habbaniyah, the British had only a certain number of construction gangs working on the Baghdad-Haifa road, which passes through Rutbah.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.