CAIRO: A document was recently discovered proving that Britain is indebted to Egypt by 3 million pounds sterling – or LE 29 million – which it has loaned during World War I, local press reported. Ashraf Sabry, a doctor, claimed to have found the I.O.U document while researching Egyptian and British documents at the Royal archive in London.
The document also states that one lord and five generals verify the loan and that Egypt has every right to collect the money from the British government.
Experts in international law told the press that the Egyptian government is not at liberty to cancel the debt because the money belongs to the public, hence making the People s Assembly the only entity able to decide on the matter.
Waheed Abdel Meguid, head of the Arab research at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, explained that Britain was at war at the time and was under financial pressure, so it is very likely that its forces in Egypt borrowed money from the Egyptian government.
While he did not rule out the possibility, Abdel Meguid however explained that Egypt doesn’t have the right to collect the debt now.
“Egypt was a British colony at the time, it wasn’t an independent country so if this really happened it is part of the ‘colonization history,’ he said.
“Egypt can’t ask for its money because it wasn’t an equal relation between two countries, it was a country and its colony which is under its rule, he added.
Abdel Meguid added however that Egypt can follow the trend Libyan President Moammar Qaddafi set when he collected $5 billion from Italy in compensation for its 30-year occupation.
When contacted by Daily News Egypt, the British Embassy was not available for comment by time of press.
