ITALY AND ABYSSINIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 December 1934, Page 7

ITALY AND ABYSSINIA

SIR J. SIMON’S STATEMENT POSSESSION OF WELLS [BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.] RUGBY, December 17. The situation in Italian Somaliland and on the Ethiopian frontier was the subject of a statement by Sir John Simon, in the Commons. He said that on November 23, the Anglo-Ethiopian Boundary Commission, which lately completed the demarcation of the frontier between Ethiopia and British Somaliland, and which was also charged with investigation of watering and grazing areas which for generations had been used by nomadic British Somali tribes, arrived in the vicinity of the wells at Walalal and Wardair, which had always been so used. These wells lie in the neighbourhood of the undefined border between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia, and have been in Italian occupation for some time. The Italian Government had previously been notified sof the Joint Commission’s movements, but unfortunately,, the information had not been passed on to the officer commanding the Italian troops at the wells, and lie declined to permit the Joint Commission to enter the area. A formal protest was recorded by the British representative, Colonel Clifford, and his Ethiopian colleague, the Commission subsequently withdrawing to a camp 30 kilometres distant. On December 5, a serious encounter, in which the Joint Commission was not in any way concerned, occurred between Italian Colonial troops and Ethiopian forces, in the vicinity of the wells. Since then, the Ethiopian Government had made an offer to the Italian Government, to submit the dispute to arbitration, and they had now reported the matter to the League of Nations, as the disputed ownership of these wells had given rise to local unrest. Sir John Simon said he had instructed the British representative at Roe and Addis Ababa, prior to the above incident, to recommend the desirability of early demarcation of the frontier. Before the news of the clash on December 5, the Italian Government had informed the British Government of their willingness to allow Colonel Clifford and his Ethiopian colleague enter the area of the wells, to carry out their work. As soon as the news of the clash was received, instructions were immediately despatched to Colonel Clifford, to withdraw his section from the affected area, similar instructions being sent by the Emperor of Ethiopia, to the Abyssinian Comsion. ' ...