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the welfare of the Sudanese with the officials of the Sudan government (meaning its senior employees), and that it would benefit me as a result. The Sudan government (meaning its senior employees), and that it would benefit me as a result. After that, I met the Governor-General several months later, and he said to me, "You yourselves have made something this time." He was referring to the General Graduates' Congress in 1937. Egyptian opinion on the agreement at the time On my way back from England, I passed through France and met with Mahmoud Fakhr Pasha, King Farouk's brother-in-law and Egypt's ambassador to France at the time. Fakhr Pasha was a Turk who was very proud of his origins. Among other things, he told me that his father had been Governor-General of Sudan and that he considered Sudan to be a dependency of Egypt and purely its property. He used to say, "We conquered it by force of arms." He went on to talk about his father, the Egyptian Governor-General in Sudan, and how the Sudanese loved him. He said things that meant the Sudanese were happy in their status as obedient subjects of Egypt, were it not for the interference of the British, who disturbed the peace of this relationship. The man felt he had hurt us with these words, so he softened his tone and spoke of the fraternal relations between Sudan and Egypt. I told him that brotherhood is based on fairness and equality, and there is no master and servant, owner and owned. His response was that he used this language because it affirmed Egypt's rights in Sudan and because it was the only language the British understood. Nevertheless, Mr. Mahmoud Fakhr rendered us memorable and praiseworthy services. He wrote to the Egyptian ambassadors in European capitals, and they facilitated many of our problems. The Egyptian ambassador in Rome arranged an audience for us with His Holiness the Pope. His successor in Rome informed me of the Pope's country residence, where we witnessed delegations from all over the world. The Pope arrived in a grand procession, carried on shoulders in a palanquin. He welcomed us and seated us in a prominent place, honoring Islam in our persons.
My visit to Egypt From Europe, I detoured to Egypt and found that the Egyptians' policy towards Sudan had not changed. It was the same policy focused on the continued denial of Sudan's existence and negotiations with the British to share power in it. It is only fair to mention a prominent Egyptian who deviated from this rule, the late Imam Al-Maraghi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar University. He believed in the right of the Sudanese to freedom and independence, perhaps due to his extensive knowledge of Sudan and its people, knowledge he acquired while working as a judge of judges in Sudan at the beginning of this century.
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