WARSHIPS SENT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20298, 7 May 1934, Page 1

WARSHIPS SENT.

Britain Responds to Appeal for Aid. CAIRO. May 5. Owing to the continuance of the otate of hostility between Yahya Muhammed Hamid-ed-din, the Imam of Yemen, in the south-west corner of Arabia, and the King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Sa’ud. Britain has responded to an appeal for assistance made by the former ruler. A few weeks ago Ibn Sa’ud ordered his Crown Prince to reoccupy a number of townships on the hills of Tehama, which the Imam of Yemen had seized. As a result of Ibn Sa’ud’s order, the Wahabis sweepingly invaded Yemen, moving towards Hodeida, which Imam iYahya’s troops evacuated after looting the ammunition store and customs shed. A revolution is reported in Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen, on account of the lack of food, and it is also said that Prince Seiful Islam, the Imam’s heir-apparent, has fled. In the meantime the Imam has asked King Fuad of Egypt to intervene and the British authorities at Aden have dispatched a sloop, H.M.S. Penzance, eight ae.roplanes and a body of armed native police to Ilodeida. A British cruiser has left Mombasa, Kenya Colony, bound for Aden. A later message states that the Penzance transferred British and Indian residents and 300 foreigners from Hodeida to Kamaram Island. Ibn Sa’ud is not likely to accept the • suggested mediation of King Fuad, be- j cause Egypt hitherto has not recognised ! Ibn Sa’ud’s Government. The Imam Yahya movingly address- j cd a war council at Sanaa, after which | it was decided to defend the capital to | the last gasp. A Rome message states that three Italian warships have been dispatched from the Red Sea to Hodeida to protect Italian interests.