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SEA OF SHADOWS 123
a moment and made no move to write anything at all. “There,” she said
after a short pause. “Now I’ll be certain to remember. Thank you for the
suggestion, Prime Minister.”
“Think nothing of it,” he said. “It is always my pleasure to be of
assistance to a lady.”
Thank God, an opening at last …
“So kind of you,” she said. “In fact, that’s the very reason I called: to
ask for your assistance.”
“Ah,” said the prime minister. “And how may I help you?”
Elizabeth paused for a second. How should she phrase it? “We have
reason to believe that four German submarines will attempt to transit the
Suez Canal within the next day or so.”
“How unusual,” the prime minister said. “Ships of that country
frequently travel our canal, but I cannot recall the last time that we were
visited by German submarines. And now, four at once you say?”
Elizabeth massaged her temple again. “We believe so, yes.”
“Am I to assume that your reason for calling has to do with these four
submarines? Or, more specifically, with their transit through our national
waterway?”
“Yes, Prime Minister, it does. My government has reason to believe
that the submarines are in route to the Arabian Gulf for delivery to the
Siraji Navy.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. When Amman finally
spoke, he did so slowly, as though choosing his words carefully. “You are
prepared to accuse the Federal Republic of Germany of violating
international law?”
“I understand that this is a serious allegation,” Elizabeth said. “But our
intelligence sources are virtually certain that Germany intends to sell
military hardware to Siraj.”
“I see,” Amman said. “You are asking me to close the canal to these
submarines, are you not?”
“Yes, Prime Minister, that is exactly what I’m asking. My president
requests formal assurances from your government that the submarines will
not be allowed to travel through the Suez Canal.”
Amman paused for an even longer time before speaking again.
“Madam Secretary, perhaps you are aware of my country’s previous
attempts to close the canal? On several occasions in the last century, we
undertook to deny use of the canal to ships of Israel, who was—at that
time—considered an enemy of Egypt. If I recall correctly, the United
States government led an international movement to force us to open the
canal, even to nations that had proven hostile to our country.”