The nature of British policy is justified only by policy or is a claim to justify policy alone.

The withdrawal of Egyptian armies from Sudan in 1884 and 1885 was not a renunciation of Sudan to become "a kingdom without an owner," so that anyone who "found a way to do so" could invade and possess it. Rather, the evacuation of Sudan was considered a purely military act necessitated by military circumstances. The greatest witness to this is the high decree of Khedive Muhammad Ali issued on January 15, 1884. This decree explicitly stated the right of the Egyptian Sudan province to the Egyptian Ministry of War, and this decree remained in effect, with the Ministry of War continuing to manage the affairs of Sudan until the revolution ended and the country was recaptured. The following is a letter from Boutros Pasha Ghali, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Lord Cromer on October 9, 1898, in response to a memorandum from him, in which he stated: "The government of His Highness the Khedive has never neglected the matter of returning to occupy the Sudanese territories, which are the source of Egypt's life. If it withdrew from them once, it was due to overwhelming circumstances. And the fall of Khartoum did not achieve the intended goal, if the entire Nile Valley – for which Egypt made great sacrifices – did not return to its hand and control. And I am aware that the matter of Fashoda is a subject of discussion between Great Britain and France. The Egyptian government has asked me to request your good offices with Lord Salisbury so that Egypt's unquestionable rights are recognized and all the territories that belonged to Egypt until the day of the Mahdist revolt are returned to Egypt." If Boutros Pasha Ghali's letter was once used as an argument against France in Fashoda, it also serves as a perpetual argument against the British. Therefore, do not rely on this letter and on the map drawn by Gordon in 1879 in your discussions with the French or in the matter of the Egyptian Sudan borders. Boutros Pasha's letter mentions