The Egyptian Sudan 68 "No one can dispute that the Nile is the lifeblood of Egypt. This is a truth so clear it needs no discussion. And since the Nile is the Sudan, there is no argument that the relations and ties binding Egypt to the Sudan cannot be subject to any economy. Their cohesion is like that of the body. If a state were to seize the sources of the Nile, this seizure would be equivalent to a death sentence for Egypt." "In all this, it occurs to every mind that His Highness the Khedive's government would never accept any state of affairs by choice, and without being compelled, by such an attack on its existence." In the Azraki book, published by Lord Salisbury in 1898 concerning the Fashoda issue, a letter from Boutros Pasha Ghali, the Khedive's minister, stated: "As Your Excellency knows, the Khedive's government has never lost sight of the return to reoccupy the Sudanese provinces, which are the very source of life for Egypt. Egypt only withdrew from those provinces due to overwhelming circumstances. And the restoration of circumstances is pointless if the Nile Valley, for which Egypt has made great sacrifices, is not returned to Egypt." "The Egyptian government knows that the Fashoda issue at this time is the subject of discussion between Great Britain and France. Therefore, (the Egyptian government) entrusts me to request Your Excellency to kindly mediate with Lord Salisbury so that Egypt's indisputable rights are recognized and the provinces it administered until the revolution of Muhammad Ahmad are returned to it." Furthermore, in the eyes of Europe itself, those Sudanese provinces – which were left abandoned (1) See Al-Waqai' al-Misriyah, 1894, Appendix 655, page 855. (2) See Al-Azraki book, October 5, 1898.