CLASH IN BASRA AREA

Southland Times, Issue 24426, 5 May 1941, Page 5

CLASH IN BASRA AREA

Iraqi Driven Off By

British

(Rec. 10.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 4. The British Ambassador at Bagdad, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, reports that all is quiet in Bagdad. The situation is tense, but there have been no incidents so far.

The Iraq radio says that Iraqi troops flooded into the Mosul oilfields. Fighting between the British troops and'the local forces continues.

British troops are marching on Bagdad from three directions and the British commander has ordered the occupation of the capital at any cost, says the Ankara radio, quoting reports from Beirut. The British so far have not encountered resistance. The radio added that Britain had at least 50,000 troops in Iraq. It is officially stated in London that a clash occurred in the Basra area between British and Iraqi forces. The Iraqi were driven oil by our bombing and artillery fire. The Bagdad radio announced a decree dismissing Britons from the State service and told Iraqis to report to the police foreign planes or parachutists.

The Swiss radio said that the Regent Abdullah Illah's army was being formed 'in Transjordania and will march forthwith against Rashid Ali’s forces.

GERMAN SUBSIDIES The Germans since 1936 have been subsidizing ambitious army officers, who were responsible for the coup on April 1. The Iraqi Government on the outbreak of war in 1939 expelled the German Minister in Bagdad, who has worked from Rome. The Iraqi Army comprises three groups stationed at Bagdad, Basra and Mosul, with a small section on the outskirts of Bagdad. The troops attacking the Habbaniyah aerodrame come from the Bagdad group, which is most closely linked with the Germans. The sympathies of the other groups are not known, but a conflict within the army is possible, because a number of military leaders do not support Rashid Ali.

A Bagdad communique claimed that Iraqi troops had seized all the oil wells and refineries at Kirkuk, Khanqin and Gazna, in addition to all stations along the pipeline. It is reported in London that any interference with the oil pipeline will not materially affect the oil resources of the Fleet or the British forces in the Mediterranean.

It is stated that any hampering of the British oil imports from Iraq would certainly present inconveniences, but the British war effort would not be affected. Iraq production is only 15 per cent, of the total oil production of the Far and Middle East. According to the League of Nations Statistical Year Book of 1939 Iraq produced 4,000,000 odd tons.

“NAVICERTS” NECESSARY FOR IRAQ (8.0.W.) ■ RUGBY, May 2. The Ministry of Economic Warfare has announced that from May 15 cargo “navicerts” will be necessary for all sea-borne goods consigned to Iran or Iraq via the Persian Gulf from neutral countries outside Europe. Ships sailing to ports in the Persian Gulf will require ship “navicerts.”