London. June 8.
At the moment free French troops. supported by Imperiel forces. entered Syria and, Lebanon, the British Government issued a communique rewording the reasons for taking this important step. At the same time General Catroux. free French Com= mander-in-Chief in the Middle East. in the name of General de Gaulle, free French leader. issued q proclamation gearantecing the liberty cnd- me dependence of Syria and Lebanon:
The text of the British Government's communique was as follows:
"In their declaration of July 1. 1940, His Majesty's Government stated they would not allow Syria and Lebanon to be occupied by any hostile forces to be used as a base for an attack upon those countries in the Middle Esst which they are pledged to de en "Despite this clear warning the Vichy government in pursuance of their policy of collaboration with the, Axis powers have placed ait bases in Syrin and Lebanon at the disposal of Germany and Italy and have supplied war materials to the rebel forces Iraq. German {nfltration into Syria has begun and the Vichy government are continuing to take measures whose effec, must be to bring Syria and Lebanon under full German control.
"His Majesty's Government could not be expected to tolerate such actions. which go far beyond any-{hing Laid down in the terms, of the French armistice and are in Magrant conflict with the recent declaration of Marshal Petain that honour forbade France to undertake anything against ree French forces have therefore, with the support of Imperial forces. entered Syria and Lebanon at an early hour this morning.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.