ARAB RULERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21793, 7 May 1934, Page 9

ARAB RULERS

SERIOUS HOSTILITY

INVASION OF YEMEN

REVOLT IN CAPITAL

.WARSHIPS DESPATCHED

BRITISH AND ITALIAN

Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received May 6, 5.5 p.m.) CAIRO. May 5 Owing to the continuance of the hostility between Yahya Muhammad Haniid-nd-Din, Imam of Yemen, in the south-west corner of Arabia, and the King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Sand, Britain has responded to an appeal for assistance. A few weeks ago Ibn Sand ordered his ?on tho Crown Prince to reoceupy townships on the hills of tho Tihama, or const lands, which the Imam of Yemen had seized. As the result of Ibn Sand's order the Wahabis made a sweeping invasion of Yemen toward Hodeida. the chief port, which the Imam Yahya's troops evacuated after looting the ammunition store and Customs shed. A revolution is reported to have broken out in the capital city, Sana, owing to lack of food. Prince Seiftil Islam, heir apparent, has fled. The Imam has asked King Fuad of Egypt to intervene. The British authorities at Aden despatched the sloop Penzance, eight aeroplanes and armed native police to Hodeida. The British cruiser Enterprise also left Mombasa, Kenya Colony, bound for Aden. The Penzance arrived at Hodeida, where she transferred British and Indian residents and 300 foreigners to Kamaran Island. Ibn Saud is not likely to accept the suggested mediation of King Fuad because Fgypt hitherto has not recognised Ibn Sand's Government. The Imam Yahya delivered a moving address to tho War-Council at Sana, after which it was decided to defend the capital to the last gasp. ' - A message from Rome states that thr£o Italian warships have been despatched from the Red Sea to Hodeida to protect Italian interests. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia forms a personal union under the rule of Ibn Saud, who, on January 8, 1926, was proclaimed king in Mecca under the style King of the Hedjaz, and in 1927 changed his title of Sultan of Nejd and its dependencies to that of King. On September 22, 1932, the name of the Kingdom of the Hedjaz and Nejd and its dependencies was changed to that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On May 20, 1927, a treaty was signed at Jedda between Britain and Ibn Saud, by which the former recognised the complete independence of the dominions of the latter. Ibn Saud has placed his State in a dominant position among the States of Arabia, The dual character of his realm

Ibn Saud has placed his State in a dominant position among the States of Arabia, The dual character of his realm is maintained provisionally, and there are still two capitals—at Mecca and Riyadh. His administration as regards the Kingdom of Nejd and its dependencies is simple and of a patriarchal character, without Ministers of State or other imitations of Western Europe. The King's eldest son, the Emir Saud, normally resides in Nejd and exercises there'the functions .of Viceroy. The administration of the Kingdom of the Hedjaz, however, as set forth in the Constitution issued on August 29, 1926, is controlled by the King acting through a Viceroy resident in Mecca. This was modified by an order regulating the function of the Council of the Secretaries of State, which consists of four members, a vice-president and a. president (the Viceroy). This order, issued in 1931 was further modified in January, 1932. There are four Ministries and three State Departments, two of which, namely, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Department of Public Education, are responsible in the first place to the Viceroy. The Department of Foreign Affairs, which is directly responsible to the King, was elevated into a Ministry in December, 1930, tinder the Emir Feisnl, the King's, second son, who is also the Viceroy of Mecca.

The Yemen may be divided as follows: —Aden, the Aden Protectorate and the domains of the Imam Yahya. His capital is Sana and he has a domain of about 75,000 square miles with a population of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000. His territories include the area to the north of the Anglo-Turkish boundary drawn in 1902-4. In a northerly direction his influence extends to Nejran of the Yam, whose tenets are those of the sect of Ismailia. The same tenets are professed by the inhabitants of Heraz near Menakha.

The population of Sana, a wall city with eight gates, is between 20,000 and .25,000. The Imam has 12 sons, the eldest of whom is the Emir el Hadi Mohamed Seiful Islam, who commands in thd country to the north of Sana.