File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎18r] (44/834)

43.5
I
made to take an oath of silence and were then shut up. The death
of theFitaurari would be about the worst thing that could happen
to_ the country. Has Taffari would be forced to call in as
Minister of War either some adventurer like Igazu, or else Dejaz
Balcha, the only strong man left in Abyssinia. This might
result in the country remaining quiet ; but the policy would
become anti-European.
Shukra and the AM Fad/.
u The prime factor dominating the Fadli imbroglio is the age
of Sultan Husein ibn Ahmed, and his fear of a Turkish invasion
on the lines of the inroad into our Protectorate and the capture
of Lahej. Lhe old Sultan defected to the Turks through fear.
He also hates the House of Abdali, and was not averse from
accepting certain Lahej lands belonging to the present Sultan of
Lahej, now a refugee in Aden. There is constant chaos in Fadli
tribes. Another element leading to discord was the bad blood
existing between the Aid Fadl and the Lower Yafa. It is an
old story and relates to their respective claims to a° water-channel.
The Lower Yafa Sultan (lately deceased) received a fancied
affront in Aden some years ago and refused acceptance of his
stipend. Friendly relations between him and the Aden Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
were stopped. The new Sultan is an unknown quantity. Ali
Said Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , at Lahej, has tried to reconcile these discordant
factors and thus to effect what the Aden Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , owing to
Yafai contumacy, has not been able to achieve. This the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
tried to do in order to enhance his political prestige as a Moslem
general working for the unification of Moslem rulers. Some few
Lower Yafa people have gone to Lahej. Several Fadlis followed
their Sultan there, if, in the first instance, we had given Sultan
Husein of Shukra the arms he asked for, and if we had consented
to his proposal to send H.M.S. “Jupiter” to that port and
disembark the 600 bluejackets, I believe the present contretemps
would never have arisen. It was, however, thought politic to
force the Sultan to show his hand, and chastise his unruly
subjects—the Haidara am Mansur. This he did not do, and these
miscreants appealed to Ali Said who sent reinforcements to their
H.Q. at Dirjaj. Sultan Husein prefers our benefits to those of the
Turks, whom he at heart detests. He merely succumbed to
‘ force majeure,’ as did the Haushabi Sultan when the Turks
marched down through A 1 Museimir to Lahej.
Sultan Abd el-Kadir, the chief’s grandson, has remained pro-
British. He is a smart youth and expects the throne at the
chief’s demise, which cannot be long delayed. Abd el-Kadir has
often asked for armed assistance. He controls a portion of the
chief fighting clan, the Marakisha, and also the Nakhai tribesmen.
We have all along demurred to any very visible demonstration
on his behalf, because we did not want to offend the old Sultan
who, at heart, is pro-British. On the death of Sultan Husein
the throne will pass to Abd el-Kadir, though Ali Said Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. has