HOLY WAR IN TRIPOLI.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXII, 13 May 1912, Page 6

HOLY WAR IN TRIPOLI.

ITALY'S DEADLY FOE.

A FANATICAL TRIBE.

What causes General Caneva, the Chief Commander of the Italian forces in Tripoli, the greatest perplexity and anxiety, and what seriously embarrasses nis military operations (says a Constantinople correspondent) is the mysterious tribe of the Senussi. They are now .gathering in thousands from their far-offi centre on the oasis of Kufra, in the Lybian Desert, from many another distant oasis of North Africa, from the Soudan, from Arabia, and from Egypt, to wage the Holy War against the detestable "Macaroni," polluting with their unholy boot-clad feet the sacred territory of the Mahdis. And of all the innumerable Moslem sects and tribes, none cau wage this Hqly War with wore passionate selfiabnegation, with more terrible fanaticism and ferocity, than the Senussi. t .ft Many are the stories concerning this most extraordinary of Islamite brotherhoods. Some assert that they are Freemasons with a constitution and rites very much resembling European Masonic fraternities. TOE, PASSWORD OF THE "ROSE." On© things seems to be perfectly cer--tain. The Senussi symbolism of the *'Rose," the secret password of the Mabdi's emissaries, has worked a veritable miracle. By means of it alone the present Sheikh of the tribe, Sidi Ahmed El Mahdi, tke grandson of the founder ef the sect, was able, in a very short space of time, to gather, from distant parts, a formidable array of fanatical warriors, ready to face General Candva's forceß with all the crushing resolution of religious frenzy fighting for Allah and Islam. f*rom an excellent source I gather that the number of these warriors amounts to.about 100,000 men at present. All of them are exceedingly well armed. Their ammunition is of a most modern type. Their leaders or Sheikhs •possess about £2,000,000 sterling. It is the name of the "Rose" that keeps them together and infuses them with unswerving enthusiasm. It is the ""Rose" that is influencing the whole of Tripoli. And it will be the '-Rose," it is asserted by those who know, that will finally carry victory over the invading infidels. AMAZONS OF THE DESERT. That remarkable Sudanese woman,; herself a member of the Senussi sect, , styled by the enthusiastic and grateful, warriors "The Jeanne d'Arc of the Desert," 'with a lacerated left arm waving high in the air, and with fierce outcries of religious fanaticism fired, the other day, the men of her tribe to an assault upon the strong entrenchments of 'the Italians. She^ accomplished the defeat of the numerically stronger enemy, in spite of the thunder of their cannon, ■only through the miracle working mystery, of the password of the "Rose." The political significance of the Senussi came into prominence when they began to fight against the corrupt system ot the old bureaucratic administration. This is one of the chief reasons why they were disliked by the former Sultan and could never obtain, during his regime, a firm footing in Constantinople itself. They are most enthusiastic -champions in the cause of freedom and of enfranchisement from every form of despotism. The present Chief Sicli Ahmed El-Mahdi (Mahdi means "He who is Jed by Allah") is described as a very pious man, full of strength and cour«tge. He has already fought, and very ' successfully, too, in many a difficult campaign. The fight in Tripoli will be hot and long, and the Italians will per-' haps arrive at the melancholy conviction that between the proclamation of the annexation and the actual possession of Tripoli is a wide and insurmountt «hle gulf.—Otago Daily Times London wrrespOndent: March 23.