Explaining to the Archbishop

Two days after London proclaimed its long-awaited "self-government" plan for the rebellious island of Cyprus (TIME. Dec. 31), two travelers, giving their names as "Mr. Symes" and "Mr. Black," arrived by steamer at the lonely Seychelles Islands far out in the Indian Ocean. They wanted to see the exiled Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios. Last week the British government confirmed that Mr. Symes and Mr. Black were in fact Derek Pearson of the Colonial Office and Cleon Tornaritis, former Attorney General of Cyprus, the highest government post ever held by a Cypriot (for holding it, Tornaritis was put on the wanted list by EOKA terrorists, and fled to London where he now works for the British government).

Although Athens intimated that Makarios had turned down the plan, the British (who control the flow of information from the Seychelles) insisted that their two emissaries were still "explaining" the proposed constitution to Makarios. If Makarios were to accept the plan, with reservations, and utter some noises unfavorable to continued terrorism, the British indicated, they would return him to Cyprus. Last week, to the dismay of the Greeks, the U.S. State Department put in a word for the British proposal as "a first step" toward a peaceably negotiated settlement.

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