A STORMY PETREL

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 July 1939, Page 10

A STORMY PETREL

ARAB REBEL LEADER. “You see those men, at the top of I that hill? They are- Fawzi Kaukji’s soldiers.” ■ ■ ■' . “See this machine-gun bullet? That’s I from! Fawzi Kaukji.”.. . . “Those Arabs manoeuvre.well. They must belong to Fawzi Kaukji’s army.” “The attack- on that farm was-bril-liantiy directed.- It -must have- been organised by Fawzi Kaukji.” ■■ Blackened ruins of farms and plantations, the- crackling of; machine-guns and the:rumble of tanks, in desert regions of. the Palestine frontier — these l are the scenery and music of the terrible drama now, being played out in the Holj" Land, with Fawzi •Kaukji as hero and villain (-writes

Edmond Demaitre in Vu, Paris). From bis Excellency Sir Harold 1 MacMichae-1, representative of-- His- Brittanic Majesty, down to the Yemenite boy I who sells papers in front of the Jerusalem post office, there is no one who does not know the name of this mysterious* Syrian or who has not heard- of the legendecy-. exploits of this adventurer who takes the rank and 'Style of “liberator” and “national hero.” . . .. , The English, who kno'w- by experience what can come of the appearance in a Moslem country of a strong man acting the triple role of dictator, ascetic and warrior, have made great efforts to end the romaiTtic career of 'this Fawzi Kaukji, whom his friend's land admirers compare with the Mahdi of the. Sudan, the Mad' Mullah of Somaliland, or the notorious; Fakir of Ipi. But, unfortunatelj” for the peace of Palestine, their efforts- have been in vain, for- the. “Fuhrer -cf the Arabs”—the title which the rebels have conferred upon Fawzi Kaukji—is not only ful-ty conversant with the laws of strategy and tactics, but also knows how to evade the watchful and : cunning secret agents and spies who exist in their hundreds in - all the ■ towns and villages of the Near East. <

; x i ecu xj ci i.. g I Several times he has: almost fallen in-j-to his enemies’ hands, but he always f manages .io escape—thanks to his proJ found knowledge of. the. desert and x - countless friends in'all the Arab cenJtres 'between Bagdad and the Hadraj’maut. ■ He is‘here, (here, and everywhere. He moves-about the Beduin country • with incredible speed, and it often hap[pens that he is discovered in an- basis 1100 or 150 mil.es. away in the interior J three days after his presence has- been <1 notified on the frontier. Even among .his own. followers n-c one knows, for | certain where he- is, and sometimes 'i members of the Intelligence D-epart-Tne-nt send notification of his presence : at three different places bn the same day.. The. secrecy in which he wraps jhis' movements is fully justified; he is {sought by the Syrian police and the English authorities in Palestine and . Transjordan, not. to mention the Ikhwans of. King Ibn Saud, who also have lan account to settle, with him. If he ■should take it into his head 1 to end- Ins j days, he has only to chose- —a- Syrian firing squad is waiting' for him, the ; executioner at the Acre prison in Pal-estine-wmHd-l-ifcGr to meet him",' ami l if he were unlucky enough to be captured in Saudi Arabia, he could be cer- 1 tain ot having his 1 head clumped off by the Lord of Hejaz and Nejd in per- ] sou! i ( IN DIFFICULT COUNTRY. 1 i According to British information, | 1 the Arab.fulirer leads a. force of three ‘ or four thousand men among the al- 0 most inaccessible- mountains and des- 1 arts of northern Palestine;- a large ■ enough force if the geographical and <

political obstacles in the Way of the work of pacification are taken into account. Fawzi Kaukji knows those difficulties, and cleverly makes' the most of them. Although hisl: mountaineers and nomads urge.-him to -(Undertake operation's on a large scale, he has kept enough authority up till -now ;to restrain their zeal-.and to/avoid a pitched battle,-.which would, without: doubt, mean, the end-of hisrde'sert revolt; :He believe's that his ■ campaign, in- Palestine -will end in- the liberation of all •Moslems, and so:he prefers to ••.•gaintime- rather.-'than battles. Moreover, he has chosen "guerrilla warfare and a war :of attrition■ iiv the hope; ’that--nis-foes will finally get* tired of the sudden dashes, ■ skirmishes-, and' raids with which they are unceasingly harassed by his bands. - He has invented war by night in Palestine.' -As silent as; tigers stalking 'their prey,' his Beduins apnoar—no one knows where from —out

’ pear —no one vvutnt? uuxu i Of- the night and vanish, again like ghosts as soon as the' first rays of ; the sun redden the skyline., And in the lonely Palestine hills; houses burnt down, plantations- desti'Qyed, dead bodies horribly mutilated, are! the sign that Fawzi Kaukji has ’ passed- that way. . Muscular, rather stout, and of medium height, the-Arab fuhrer is pleasant .enough, to lock at when he be-j strides) his"curvetting' horsei ap the, head of his wild' warriors,: in hi® Arab | burnous and head-dress. On' the oth- > er. hand, wheii he wears; his “European’’ uniform —which is a mixture of an Alpine Chasseur’s uniform, Herr Hitler’s dress, - and the rig-out of' an English peer stag-hunting' in- Scotland I —he looks more; like a peanut vendor going to a fancy dress' ball. ■ • i You will ask perhaps how I can possibly describe, in such d'etail the appearance of the unknown phantom ; which' is Faiw-zi Kaukji; It- is very : simple. Following the example of his < German' prototype, the Arab fuhrer, i knowing the value of propaganda, has < missed no opportunity; of having him- -* self photographed in a striking pose. 1 [ have had the pleasure; of seeing" how h well a guerrilla chieftain, photographs e at the information service bureau in

1.. Cl U Ulv J444V4 4UUI-IV*X T i- Jerusalem; 1 have -seen photographs s of Fawzi Kaukji reviewing- his troops »- chatting with his lieutenants, study d ing a map, and even asleep (that’s .- something Hitler and Goebbels haven’t - thought; of yet!). These photographs are- distributed in thousands and 1 thou- . sand's throughout all the countries , over which Fa-wzi Kaukji hopes one - day. to- extend his l sway. 5 It is clear.from this that the Arab ■ fuhret is in no way like his .contemi poraries the Emir- Abdulla, the ex- ; Mufti of Jerusalem, or King Ibn Sand. ■ While Lawrence, Philby, or • Glubb ; managed by means of clever acting - to turn themselves from Europeans- into Bcduins, Fawzi Kaukji has turned : himself in many ways from a Beduin te a European. : UNSOLVED MYSTERY. It is easy to understand how Fawzi Kaukji has been able 1 so -tor transform himself from Beduin warrior into “European” dictator-when- his: history is known. His- youth was: passed in Syria, then he the Turkish army, and was sent to Constantinople for an 'officer’s course. His activities during the World: War are an unsolved mystery; according to some, he fought in the Sultan's: army and was promoted captain a few months before* the defeat of the Turkish force's, while others say that he- deserted to the- Allies and had some connection's with Lawrence of Arabia. However that may bo, it is known- that he appeared in Syria, and put himself at the head]: of the rebels I here just after the War. , Impi'isomnl l in, the- Jehel Druse by a French patrol, lie was condemned to death, by a. military, court, but man-

J’aged to escape a few hours before, the ■ time fixed for his execution; Then for - a few years l ho disappeared again: He t lived concealed in 'the Syrian-,hinter--5 land', organising . resistance among * rebel tribes. ..'When France', began the. s pacification of the country he.vanished > again, turning up at Bagdad, where -:king Feisal -gave him 1 a’Tost in 1 the -•' Iraq army. Bub it was not likely that this hot■l blooded adventurer would be content to'end' his days in peace at Bagdad. Hardly was he .settled in the Irat) capi- ; tai when he became involved in a . Pan-raib conspiracy and had to flee. Howeiver, Arabia is a large' country, anti its sheiks and emirs -were -well able' to use the military and diplomatic services of a former captain of the Turkish army. Later he offered his services to King Ibn Saud, and for several year®:he- pliusubdMi quiet life organising \ the Saudi Arabian forces. The Lord of Jejd heaped.favours upon him until he discovered that Fawzi Kaukji, still haunted by the dream of an Arab Empire, was' the force behind' the revolt of Ibu Rafad'i of the Billis tribe, which brought fireand- sword to the area, between Saudi Arabia and Transjordan. The Syrian escaped from the Ikhwans of Ifin Saud, who swore- to exact a terrible | vengeance. Fawzi Kaukji went next to (the Emir Abdulla, who, •though he declined to accept his services, allowed him to s'ettle in Transjordan. There, in a- miserable village-on the banks of the Jordafi, Fawzi Kauk-jr awaited his opportunity.” ' ' I It came when the first rifle shots | crackled in Palestine. He crossed' the Jordan and put himself at the head of the bands of marauding -brigands who were harassing the English patrols..- A brilliant organiser, full of; energy, as ambitious as any condottiere, >and as fanatical as the most pious mullah or dervish, he quickly succeeded in transforming the Beduin hordes that, gathered -round; him into a regular army, with an iron discipline. • And/ at-the head of this army, lie’ has 'held' the whole of the interior of northern Palestine for almost a year. •' •■■ iWhat is his aim? Is he merely de-

s fending the cause of the Palestiniai 5, Arabs, or is he.trying to lay the; founr - dations of a new: Arab empire? cis s the -campaign he has 'waged for so long t the last phase- of the- Palestinian cons flict or the first act of a new Near - East drama?' No one knows. The only s certainty is this: all the kings, emirs, 3- effendis, muftis, and sheiks: who now infest the borders of Palestine will in ) the end have to come to a. “show- - down” with him, for, like- all other - fuhrers, be they of the- East or of the . West, Fawzi Kaukji is firmly con- ) vinced that, after Allah and his Pro- ; phet, it is himself and himself alone ■ who possesses the right and the strength to become the unquestioned' master of all Arabs, or pef’haps of all true believers.