MOROCCAN EXILES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19415, 25 August 1926, Page 11

MOROCCAN EXILES.

KRIM AND HIS FAMILY. FUTURE ISLAND HOME. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 7.5 p.m.) PARIS. Aug. 24 The former leader .of the Riffs, Abd el Krim, and his family will ieave Fez, Morocco, on Friday for the island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, to which they are to be exiled. ' ' . Abd el Krim, the'famous Riff leader, surrendered to the French toward the end of May. He placed his family and himself under the protection of France. Before he entered the French lines, he sent back all the French, Spanish and native prisoners. The surrender of Krim was not surprising, as be was known to be' in flight, if not in hiding, fearing assassination by his disappointed followers. The French , had captured the greater part of Jeb-el-Ham-man, a mountain fastness, which was Krim's last sanctuary. His own tribe, the ; Beni Uriagual, had submitted, and practically, th-e whole Riff territory was in the hands of the French and Spanish. Only two tribes remained intact, the Ghomara and the Djebela, and • they were apparently, unaware of Krim's collapse. In January, 1925, Krim succeeded in winning over the mountain tribes whom Raisuli, under an agreement with Spain, had hitherto kept neutral. Raisuli himself was compelled to recognise Krim as his superior and to carry on with him the Holy Weir against the Spaniards. Eventually, the old chief was seized by Krim and died in captivity. Krim had more than once declared that he had no quarrel with France with which he desired friendly relations, but that he was bent on. driving the Spaniards out of the greater part of their Moroccan zone, as their rule had been disastrous to the country. Despite this disavowal of hostility to France, however, he began a campaign against the French in April, 1925, with the object of getting the mastery over all Morocco, encouraged no do'ub't by his success, in winning, over hitherto neutral tribes.'At first he achieved such success against the French that Marshal. Lyautey was recalled and. replaced by, Marshal Retain. Spanish, attempts tp land., in the ; Gulf,,, of Alhucemas were unsuccessful " until" October, 1925, when a largo force with modern equipment was put ashore there, Krim driven back and his. Ajdir headquarters occupied. Thereupon Petain declared that there was nothing more to be feared from Krim, who, however, issued from his mountain fastnesses from time to time and attacked the French and Spanish. In December, 1925, Krim sent the English captain, Gordon Canning, to Paris with an offer of peace. His conditions were that he should enjoy autonomy in the Riff with an army strong enough I tc govern it, that the customs regime should be independent of that of the rest of Morocco, and that there should be equality of commercial opportunity for all. He did not demand a Riff representative abroad and was willing to accept' the Sultan of Morocco as his spiritual chief. Canning's mission to M. Briand," then Premier of France, was without result, for the latter declined to enter into negotiations, one of his reasons being that the frontier demanded by Krim would run close to the Fez-Tangier railway and that he claimed Tetuan, Kiffane and Wezzan."Tho peace terms offered to Krim were rejected and the French and'? Spanish forces thereupon launched the offensive, which'ended in Krim's downfall.