IRAQ ADVANCE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 121, 24 May 1941, Page 9

IRAQ ADVANCE

REBELS CAPTURED Oil Supplies Reaching Syria By Rail nritjj.h Official W.rrl<-«. Rce. 1 p.m. RI'GBY. May 23. British troops successfullv dispersed an cnemv counter attack on the outskirts of Fallujah. east of Bagdad. Twenty Iraq rebel officers and f»0 other ranks were taken prisoner. 'the Berlin radio states thai Sami Miawkat. Rashid A lis envov. has pone to Teheran to conclude a new political treaty between" Iracj and Iran. Shawkat was lately in Ankara ostensibly on a mission to the Turkish Government bin. it i< believed, in reality to consult the German Ambassador, von Pa pen. It is understood the German garrisons in the islands of Mviilene and Chios are now 0000 and '000 men respectively. It is officially stated in Sofia that Bulgarian troops have replaced the German garrisons is the islands of Samothrace and Thasos. The British I'nited Pre-s corres. pondeni at Beirut saws the French High Commissioner. General Dentz told a Press conference- France hano aggressive intentions against Britain, but will be compelled to oppose force with force Germany has a provisional right to use Svriah aerodromes under Article 12 of the Franco-German armistice. I assure Syrians that no German interference or occupation will take place in Syria." It is reported from Beirut that J-rench troops in Svria are on the move. and a French squadron trapped there when France collapsed has begun exercises. , The Ankara correspondent of the Daily Express" says French arms and ammunition are still pouring from Syria into Iraq, and trains are returning to Syria carrying oil and petrol for German aeroplanes crossing Syria. • i Thc , Ge '"i"an radio tonight claimed that Rashid Alls Air Force had successfully bombed the British positions at Amman, and described the raid as "the first operations bv Iraq forces outside their own territory* ' This contradicts earlier German reports that Iraqui troops had penetrated Palestine. Shurry Bey Elkaw Alv. president of the Syrian National "group in a statement said that as a result of Frances leaving the league of Nations the French mandate had lapsed. France and Svria concluded a treaty in 1936. which France had never ratified. Therefore a legal basis for the Government of Svria did not exist.