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“fiament by moment, all tending to a liferal viewpoint." iss Elizabeth Monroe, the dis- ished Middle East expert, whoa in Philvy’s company for a week én 1957 on a tour of then-monarchist Traq, says: “ There was no tixn of a . scrap of prejudice in him at all. What i impressed one was his intense and ‘ impartial curiosity about everything and his calm judament based on a ‘tremendous background knowledge.” _ . Of his writing for The Observer, ‘the Foreign Edttor writes: “It . Showed not only no trace of Com- " munist bias but also #0 evidence of a ** Marxist method of thinking. His reporting was realistic and objective ‘and bis poditical interpretation was _ cautious in form and traditional is ; Styfe. Tt was very much what one i Might have expected from someone | who had both a Foreign Office train- | ing coupled with special knowledge of the Middfe East, Warnings “In several dispatches he warned against the growth af Communist influence in Iraq under General Kassim and the possibility of Com- mutist infiltration «to the Persian Gulf and Arabia.” . His letters to The Observer office were neat, relaxed, modest and co- operative to a self-denying degree. He once proposed another Middle East veteran for his own job, hearing he was broke. His last, written an December 29 (three weeks before his disappearance), asked for a spell of home feave in the coming summer. When Philby vanished, the paper | shared the bewilderment of his, _ Closest Beirut friends. Further re i search in the Lebanon still seemed to! leave several = possibilities, No explanation, however unlikely, could be dismissed (or so it Jocked in March), but as the gaps in Phitby’s life and habits began to come into focus we began to look harder at the two or three more reasonable ways out of the mystery. Money looked important some- where in the story. Friends who respected him thought it quite likely that, miven his need and his ternpera- ment, he would embark on a quite risky enterprise if the reward were high enough, it seemed one thing that _also might, in his eyes, justify the pmisery and anaicty inflicted on his family by his going. The evidence of Athe suitcase, and the notes, pointed to a departure that was at least partly ‘been disturbed by his rather repub- ww family. When away on assignmen he made @ point of writing hom (gaily. Tt seemed clear that only som . _ {desperate move on his part or Kidnapped? equally heavy pressure could hav He had no known enemies—though jOctsuaded him to put them in a state the Saudi Arabians had occasionally #of great anxiety, He was in good health and an | apparently rational state of mind ; When he Jefe that evening. Some, / however, had noticed signs of increasing depression and heavier drinking over the last year or so, He used ta sit by himself at the same side-table in the bar of the Hote Normandy on the waterfront, once of lean political line. Sudden fowl play did, not seem to fit in with the mode of his departure, though a high member of the Foreign Office on March 20 told The Observer's Poiiti- cal Correspondent that be wouldn't be surprised if Philby were dead. » Was, be connected in ian. under- cover way with some coup d'élat against the Saudis? One or two well- informed friends in Beirut at first in- - clined to this answer. It might explain < the Cairo postmarks (a group of dis- sident Saudis were being sheltered by President Nasser), Loads of anms had ' been dropped to rebels in the coun- - ty shorily before he disappeared. He i was known to have seen a prominent Saudi‘anti-monarchist a week before his departure. That was about as far Our report by ROY JENKINS, the M.P. and historian, on his enquiry into the election of Pope Paul VI begins next week. twice a day, getting rapidly through his wat looking deeply morose. ia? ¢ astute d barman, a friend of Gr had hes the ‘Scugi”affegea | PRUbY's for sx years, told me that yl rt alhg Nrark: YY A t2 —beey kidnapped by the Egyptians? ; year ago “as though a weight had As a) leading exponent of Arab; 2 5 heart.” nationalism, Philby could f hardly | be: A a mart pst vncome from ood pe is i have incurred serious disfavour on: . . political grounds. Still, if he had been ©urnalism (he apparently had no smuggled out of the Lebanon the ther publicly known source) went on efficient Egyptian Intelligence might Maintaining a good flat and a family, have been expected to find this action Meluding two children at boarding- easier than most. : . School in England. Working for the Republicans in . Throughout my dealings with the Yemen? But other reporters had Eleanor Philby in Beirut, she showed been there since and heard no word a marked reserve. Although I came of him—ia a country where it is hard from London partly with the aim of to keep secrets. Loy seeing what material assistance she Any answer had to be reconcilable and the children might need, she was to one firm factor: Philby was only anxious for all papers to keep strongly attached ta his wife and off the story, saying that this would “annem help fo re-open contact with Kim. 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