BRITAIN IN THE EAST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17696, 3 February 1921, Page 5

BRITAIN IN THE EAST.

PERSIAN WITHDRAWAL.

PANIC CAUSED IN BAGDAD.

DANGER TO MESOPOTAMIA. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. Times. LONDON, Feb. 1. The Times correspondent at Bagdad strongly opposes the withdrawal of the British troops from Persia. He says: "The decision has caused a panic. Oldestablished businesses will be torn up by the roots, and the whole fabric of British influence, moral and economic, which was built up by devoted labours extending over more than a century, threatens to collapse before the menace of a few scallywags sitting at Resht, pretending to be Bolsheviks, and who have discovered that if they make a noise they can frighten everybody, including the Euiopeans." The correspondent says that with the withdrawal of the British troops Mustapha Kemal and his Turkish forces may attack Mesopotamia. The Turks are conducting a powerful propaganda in Bagdad in favour of establishing Borhan ed Din, the fourth son of Abdul Hamid, as Amir, while the Hedjaz and Syria are conducting propaganda in favour of the Sheriffians (the- ruling family of Mecca). Referring to internal conditions in Mesopotamia, the correspondent says that some of the wealthiest corporations in tie world have financial interests there, and asks why should these not make a huge loan to Great Britain to develop irrigation, which he claims would send the value of land up in some instances from a .itiJling to £200 per acre. The correspondent concludes : "If neither the corporations nor the Treasury will take the risk the sooner Mesopotamia is evacuated the better."