MECCA HELPESS

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11960, 15 October 1924, Page 8

MECCA HELPESS

WILD BEDOUINS TRIUMPH PEACE OFFER REJECTED WITH CONTEMPT. PALACE PLUNDERED. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. October 14, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. October 13. The “Daily Telegraph” correspondent in Cairo says the' Emir Ali’s attempts to make peace with the Wahabis eni circling Mecca have been contemptu--1 ously rejected. Four of his messengers are prisoners. : One. who escaped, reports that Ali’s letter , was torn up. The “Daily Chronicle” correspondent. Mr George Renwick, at Jeddah, ' says: “Several thousand inhabitants, ■who left Mecca before the Wahabis en circled the city, are now approaching Jeddah, which is already seriously overcrowded. Food and water are ; quickly becoming scarce. ' j “The situation at Mecca is reported ; to be appalling. Wild Bedouins plund- ' ered the Royal Palace on Sunday night, and committed other excesses. Uneasiness has. been caused by the reports that seven hundred so-called volunteers from Trans-Jordania have embarked at Akaba, en route for Jeddah, in order to fight the Wahabis at the instance of , ex-King Hussein. Actually they are well-armed ruffians, who, if they reach Jeddah, will almost oertain- , ly indulge in bloodshed and destruction."

The Emir Ali is a son of ex-King Hussein, who recently abdicated the throne of the Hedjaz in order to save his life from the Wahabi tribesmen. Ali was proclaimed King, but his following is weak.