Eltaher sent the telegram directly to Koubbeh Palace, which was then the official residence of the King, but not to his office at Abdine Palace to ensure that it was received the same night. When the telegram arrived, the Commander of the Guards delivered it to the King, who read it, put it in his pocket, which indicated the importance he gave to the telegram, and ordered the Commander to ask the Prime Minister and the Chief of the Royal Cabinet to come and meet with him before noon the following day at his office in Abdine Palace.
The details of what happened at the Royal Palace are told in the “Memoirs of Karim Thabet Pasha”, in which he points out that the “unknown soldier” behind Abdelkrim’s asylum-seeking in Egypt from a to z, and the one who sent the telegram to the King, was Mohamed Ali Eltaher, publisher of the “Ashoura” newspaper.
Eltaher and his friends from the Arab Maghreb Bureau started the second phase of the plan on May 30, 1947. A group of them went to Suez harbour to meet with Abdelkrim when the ship arrived and discuss the escape plan with him. The other group went to Port Said harbour to carry out the last phase. When the ship arrived in Suez, Amir-Alay (Colonel) Mohamed Hussein Helmi Bey, who was tasked by King Farouk to present his royal greetings to Abdelkrim, went aboard the ship and shared with him the King’s proposal regarding seeking asylum in Egypt. Abdelkrim, who was surprised by the King’s move, accepted the offer in principle and asked to discuss it with his family and provide their final response once the ship had arrived at Port Said after the ship had crossed the Suez Canal. The Colonel later took a train to Port Said where he would await Abdelkrim’s move.
When the ship moored at Port Said, Helmi Bey went aboard and learned from Abdelkrim that he had decided to accept the King’s invitation. Helmi Bey then agreed with him as to the details of the scenario they would follow to enable Egyptian authorities to say that Abdelkrim had put Egypt before a fait accompli by requesting political asylum for him and his family.
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| ©Australian War Memorial |
The Australian ship SS Katoomba |
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Abdelkrim left the ship at Port Said with his family, pretending to visit the city in the same way he had done before at Aden. However, he proceeded with the reception party composed of members of the Arab Maghreb Bureau and Eltaher to the office of the Governor of Port Said, Fouad Shirine Pasha, where he made his request for asylum, and immediately left with them to Cairo as planned. Once in Cairo, Abdelkrim proceeded to Abdine Palace, where Karim Thabet Pasha, representing the King, welcomed him in Egypt. From there a convoy of official cars from the Palace drove Abdelkrim and his family to the King’s retreat at Inshas, just outside Cairo. By nightfall Abdelkrim and his family were now official guests of Egypt, and were thus rescued from French captivity.
