CONSTANTINE BESIEGED IN HIS PALACE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 143, 16 June 1917, Page 5

CONSTANTINE BESIEGED IN HIS PALACE.

UNABLE TO GET AWAY TILL FRENCH LANDED. LONDON", June 13. For several days before leaving Greece, Constantino was besieged in his palace-. Crowds of reservists and citizens thronged the entrances, preventing the Royal family leaving. Constantino was still a prisoner after the expiry of the ultimatum at mid-day on Tuesday. Crowds prevented the Ministers entering the palace. 11. Zaimis, the Greek Premier, informed the Allies that he was unable to disperse the crowds. French troops therefore commenced landing at Piraeus on Tuesday afternoon, and marched to Athens. There was a sudden diminution in the crowds before the palace, and less agitation and animation in the streets. Constantine, braving the besiegers, left in the evening in a closed motor-car at a terrific pace, accompnnied by the Queen and the Crown Prince. Constantino was nt molested, and embarked at Corfu on a British warship. It is reported he has chosen Denmark as his ultimate destination. Transports filled with Allied troops have arrived, and proceeded Tip the Corinth Canal. M. Jounnart, the Allied High Commissioner, has demanded permission to occupy Corinth Canal and Thessaly, ami to expel from Athens a number of Greeks, intimating that he will use force in the event of noncompliance. M. Jounnart is acting as executor for the three Powers protecting Greece, but it is reported that his instructions were modified at the last moment owing to a sudden change of attitude on the part of one of the Powers. M. Jounnart has issued a warning that civilians bearing anne will be treated as brigands and shot on the spot. He has also issued a proclamation promising to revictual the country, to raise the blockade, to guarantee the liberties and possessions of all Greeks, to oppose- reprisals, and to secure an amnesty. He will not seek to force Greece to abandon neutrality. A French communique states that cavalry have occupied Trikala, 30 miles west of Larissa, and a battalion of light infantry has moved to Yolo. (A. and y.Z. Cable.)