File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎229v] (467/834)

Sherijian Overtures to Ibn Rashid.
King Husein reports that •Abdullah has communicated
with [bn Rashid in Hail, assuring him of his consideration
and regard if he will join him, and suggesting that he has nothing
to hope for from the Turks, who will not trust him. The Emir
replied that he was willing to consider the matter, but must be
given time ; meanwhile Abdullah must tell no one. Ibn Rashid's
motives have previously been explained [see p. ^1S). It is
hardly likely that he will commit himself until he knows that the
prospect of obtaining guns from the Turks is hopeless. At the
time he wrote to Abdullah he must have been expecting Abdul
Hamid el-Masri from Medina.
Asir.
The Turks, according to the story of a local agent in
Jiddah, have captured Dauqa, about twenty-five miles north
of Kuntida. Dauqa was for some time the headquarters of a
small Sherifian force, despatched from Mecca in March last
{see page 96). The news is, at present, unconfirmed, but in
view of Sheikh Mohammed Areifan’s report, made last March
{see page MO), that the force was insufficient and the com
mander incompetent, there is little ground for doubting that yet
another of King Husein’s “side-shows” has failed.
The same informant added that the Dhawi Haraz Ashraf
have made secret overtures to the Turks, offering their allegiance.
Possibly the Dhawi Hasan Ashraf are meant. The latter are a
powerful, piratical tribe, mustering some three thousand or more
fighting men, who inhabit the maritime plain from just north of
Lith to Hamdh (see No. 55, page 288). they have always been
intolerant of control, whether Turkish or Sherifian, and if the
above news is true, it may be assumed that they have not been
influenced by any feelings of loyalty to the Turks.
Idri si's A ffairs.
A report has been received at Aden of an engagement
between l urks and Idrisians at Dar el-Has(P) on July 16, in
which the Turks, who were the aggressors, were worsted. They
are said to have had one hundred casualties, while Idrisi lost
tffirty kb ed and ten wounded. Idrisi’s efforts to recruit Hashid
and Bekil tribesmen (see page 255), have met with a certain
measure of success. Two hundred and fifty of the former, and
V ? W o£ the iftter, tribe have come in, and it is reported that
‘ulherents^ 11 ^ esh ' Shaif 18 ex P ec ted, together with his
. ie P°rts that Idrisi’s southernmost port
r ?Mprlt l 16 18 fleeting troops at Abs, Maawiz, Habl
and Medi, with the hope of marching south.
Haiti and Kathiri.
, Acc °>' din g to a telegram from Aden, dated J uly 27, the Sultan
ot Motalla reports that Seyyid Husein Mehdar (L p. 233) has