CLAIM BY IRAKIS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 116, 19 May 1941, Page 7

CLAIM BY IRAKIS

PALESTINE PENETRATION

HEIGHTS SEIZED NEAR

JERUSALEM

LONDON, May 17.

The Bagdad radio says that some of Rashid Airs troops have penetrated into Palestine after overcoming a British force which crossed the frontier into Irak. The Irakis claim that they have seized the heights overlooking Nablus (28 miles from Jerusalem), where Palestine Arab rebels are joining them.

An Iraki communique claims that troops are attacking the British positions near Basra, where a big battle is developing.

The first official mention of German aircraft in action in Irak is c6ntained in an R.A.F. (Middle East) communique which states: "In Irak a'number of German aircraft were machinegunned on the aerodrome at Mosul. A Heinkel was set on 'fire and destroyed, and other aircraft were damaged. Petrol and oil tanks were successfully bombed at Amara by aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. The R.A.F. station at Habbania was raided by a formation of Heinkels supported by Me 110's. The damage caused was slight, and there were few casualties. The Messerschmitts also machine-gunned an ambulance on the plateau."

The Cairo representative of the British United Press says that Rashid Ali has released all political prisoners, including the former Prime Minister, Hikmat Sulaiman, who has been appointed Iraki Ambassador in Russia.