POSITION EASIER

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 107, 8 May 1941, Page 7

POSITION EASIER

IRAQIS FALL BACK

Counter-Government Move In

Transjordan

United Preas Association.—Copyright. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, May 7. A further R.A.F. communique says the situation in the area around Habbaniyah is much easier. British night patrols found enemy positions on the edge of the escarpment unoccupied. The plateau due south of the cantonment was reported to be clear or rebels. Insurgents, occupying a post on the pipeline, signified their surrender by waving white flags when a British reconnaissance plane approached. British ground troops subsequently occupied the post. According to the Hungarian news agency's Beirut correspondent, the former Iraqi Premier, Nuri es Said, has formed a counter-Government in Amman, capital of Transjordan. Members of the Cabinet immediately went to Basra. Nuri es Said was a friend of Lawrence of Arabia. A message from Rome says that according to the Stefan i news agency Habbaniyah aerodrome has been rendered useless. Iraqi troops have not yet entered it because the barbed wire defences are electrically charged, it is claimed. The Beirut correspondent of the official German news agency says the Iraqi high command has ordered its troops to use ammunition sparingly, as no fresh supplies are available. It is learned that all the British at the Embassy in Bagdad are safe, says a British Official Wireless message.

ALL QUIET AT BASRA

BATTLK .NOT CONFIRM HI) Rritish Official Wireless. Rec. 1 p.m. RUGBY. May 7. Information available in London indicates that all is quiet at Basra. There is no confirmation of reports of heavy fighting in that area, to which reference was made in a broadcast from Bagdad. Habbaniyah aerodrome, which has been the scene of recent operations, is situated about 50 miles from Bagdad and is reputed to be one of the finest flying fields in the Middle East, with facilities for both land and water craft. In peace time it was a civilian airport as well as the headquarters of the British forces in Iraq. At the outbreak of war it housed five R.A.F. squadrons, used mainly for training, and an armoured car company for police patrol work. The R.A.F. general hospital and a special meteorological station, were also there.