MENACE TO INDIA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15223, 22 May 1920, Page 3

MENACE TO INDIA.

SERIOUS BLOW TO BRITISH . PRESTIGE. PATE OF BRITISH TROOPS UNCERTAIN. tu r^iu . . May 20. l-he Bolshevist capture of Enzeli ie regarded .a* a, most serious move- ft view .of ,the military helplp&riess of Persia S e '^IK-I? sponsibilities of the BrSish m the Middle East, and the risks aa regards India. > ; It is assumed that the Bolshevists first aimed /at the seizure of, DenekinV volunteer fleet, interned at Enzeli, but doubtless the ultimate purpose was the occupation of Teheran. , Tlie\ situation is aggravated by the unreliability of Persia's Oossack division , of which 6000 are reported .to openly sympathise with Bolshevism. *It is feared that the whole division will join the Reds. ' The Daily Mail's correspondent estimates the British troops driven out of Enzeli at between 400- and 500. A handful remain at Tabrez, but their fate, like those capturftd at Baku, is unknown. l-ne whole situation . involves a serious menace to national prestige throughout the Middle East, and endangers the vitally important oil interests m Persia. In the House of Commons Mr. Bonar Law, m. reply to questions, stated -that the new Anglo-Persian agreement did not involve Britain's obligations towards Persia. .'