As a result of the invasion [in 1956] all British and French properties were put under Egyptian supervision; the schools and cultural centres were not closed down - they were simply put under Egyptian direction.

British and French officials were asked to leave, including teachers and lecturers.  Of course, the British Council was one of those institutions affected by the decision, and I was chosen to be one of its two sequestrators.  The other sequestrator was the late Abdel Rehim Rashwan, who was the chief inspector of English in the Ministry of Education.

Being both of us, Rashwan and myself, great believers in cultural exchange and admirers of English language and literature, and realising the importance of learning foreign languages, we embarked on a policy for the Council which followed to the letter its previous activities under the British.  The English classes continued, and so did the lectures and other activities such as poetry reading groups, and theatre and film shows.  I must say here that there was no interference, direction or instructions on the part of the Government.  I am sure nobody from the Government, apart from the two sequestrators, actually knew what was going on in the Council.  We were surprised to see the rush for the classes, the lectures and other activities.

I was responsible for the extra-curricular activities, ie lectures, poetry, drama and films.  I rummaged through the stores and discovered a treasure of recordings, poetry recitals, new films and batches of books newly arrived.

The problem that faced us, of course, was where to get the teachers and the lecturers.  At that time the standard of Egyptian teachers of English was still high.  Most of them, if not all, had graduated from Exeter or Trinity College, Dublin, and their command of the English language was superb.  We recruited many of them and managed to find lecturers who could fill the programme for us.

One of our achievements was the production of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' with an all-Egyptian cast.  Of course it was an amateurish production, but it drew large audiences and we had to give it on three successive nights.  The play had a good write-up in the 'Egyptian Gazette'.

The library of the Council was another active area.  Hundreds of students from the English Departments of the Universities were regular borrowers from our library since what we had was often not available in their own Faculty libraries.

When I look back on that period I feel that both Rashwan and myself were able to prove our point, that regardless of political differences and problems, culture should go beyond them and should not be mixed up in their unending rigmarole.  Culture has no boundaries and no political grievances should stop it.

Sequestration was lifted in 1958 and, as a result, the work of the British Council came to an end.

From 'The British Council: 50 years in Egypt' by Dr Morsi Saad El Din, published Al-Ahram Commercial Presses, Cairo, 1988