NO FURTHER ADVANCE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 81, 2 October 1924, Page 5

NO FURTHER ADVANCE

PEACE OVERTUKES REPORTED,

(REUTERM TELEGRAM.) mt. -„- , pAIRO> 30th September. the Wahabis have made no further advance towards Mecca. It is reported that-peace negotiations have been open-

Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud of Riadh, Wahabi Emu- of Nejd, the present head of the ancient house of Sa'ud, is now in all probability the most powerful of the rulers of Arabia. He is master of a great area of country, and his power is based not only on his deserved reputation as a stern, just, and capable prince of ancient lineage and commanding personality, but on the military organisation of the "Ikhwan" (Brethren), which ho has himself created. The Brethren are Bedouins of various tribes whom the Emir has first weaned from their feuds with the aid of his preachers and' then settled as soldier-cultivators in colonies among tho oases of Nejd. Inspired by the puritan Wahabi creed, the Ikhwau are becoming tho spearhead of Ibn Sa'ud's army. They played-a leading part in the successful campaigns waged by Abdul-Aziz against the Emir of Hail in 1918, and against tho Sherif of Mecca's forces led by Emir Abdallah in 1920. Stern fanatics, regarding all nonWahabi Moslems as worse than infidels, tha Ikhwan inspire fear and respect in all their neighbours. Abdul-Aziz rules Jauf and has gradually been extending his influence along the Wadi Sirhan towards the dominions of the Emir Abdallah and towards the Hejaz from Hail and Khurma. Although he permits no inter-tribal raiding within his dominions, and visits disobedience to his orders in this way with severe punishment, he allows and . countenances raids in, which Ikhwan as well as Bedouin tako part against Arabs living outside . his borders. The Ikhwan aro not invincible, however, even in Arab warfare, as the story of their attack on Transjordania in 1922 shows. A party of about 750 men raided Wadi Sirhan, where they surprised and annihilated a camp of Shararat Bedouins, a wild but poor clan. They next advanced on a joint Riialla and Shnrarat camp near I thru, but failed to effect a surprise, and were soundly beaten, 200 of their number being killed or taken prisoner. Tho desert frontier of Transjordania is exposed for its wholo length to such attacks "from tho blue," and tho Emir Abdallah has had the aid of British officers to control a defence force sufficient to prevent raiding parlies from entering the country.