Mahmoud Hassan Pasha

Mahmoud Hassan arrived in Washington as Egypt’s minister in 1938, and wartime supplies soon became a central concern of his legation. In May 1941, he introduced counselor Anis Azer to Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long. Azer described an Egyptian economy heavily committed to supporting Britain, while the two diplomats explained their difficulties obtaining American export permits. Long directed them toward the officials responsible for the economic and policy questions. ^{1, 2}

On 17 April 1945, Hassan and Secretary of State Edward Stettinius signed a Lend-Lease agreement in Washington. The accompanying exchange addressed payment for civilian supplies and the eventual disposition of installations built in Egypt with American assistance. State Department officials held that Egyptian parliamentary approval was required before it could take effect. In November 1946, Hassan reported that parliamentary committees had been studying it when Washington ended Lend-Lease operations, after which Parliament took no further action. The Department consequently classified the agreement as unperfected. ^{4, 5}

Hassan also acted collectively with other Arab representatives. On 3 October 1945, he spoke for the ministers of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon at a meeting with Dean Acheson. Their governments had instructed them to challenge reports that President Truman was pressing Britain to admit 100,000 Jewish refugees to Palestine. Hassan invoked assurances of consultation that he said Roosevelt and Truman had given and argued that the inhabitants’ consent must govern fundamental changes in Palestine. Acheson promised to convey their views to Secretary of State James Byrnes, without giving the substantive reassurance they requested. ⁶

Hassan became Egypt’s first ambassador in Washington when the two governments elevated their missions to embassy rank. He presented new credentials to President Harry Truman on 10 October 1946. The change followed negotiations over diplomatic precedence in Cairo, where Washington sought equal standing with the British ambassador. ^{3, 1}