File 3300/1916 Pt 3 'Aden News-Letters: 1919-20' [‎465r] (284/633)

h ® hf:il of -^oWia, 1 ahomed All Othm-n, has nent
me a letter stating that the heikhs, Akile . nd notable
men or the district of Zabid ,nd its dependencies o ne t
4m complaining against the Imimie Oorernment ^d their
harsh treatment. Aeikh Ali uthm^r, therefore g P .*e the Z,
gentry an undertaking to the effect that he would ask foa
«• British sellers wiUi one ox^icer, t*o or ti.ree guns
end Iso a quantity of arms enc ammunition for arming the
trib«* men*
The xheikh a«o got all the Z R bid dheikhs eto to
•i.;n aa agreement under which they consider themselves
unx tedly under the protection of the nritiah Uor. rnment.
The ;heikh< asks fer a reply, as failing our aesistones,
| he uSU ‘°» 118 iu h »» to add re ea the It .lin Government.
I doubt if all that is iritten in this letter is
true. At anj- rate most of it is fiction. He is the Amil of
o ha under the xm.m. i ; .e came to Aden several times durin
the war to take supplies and he is anxious to come under
our protection, his threats to go to the Italians for hel.
is to rny mind » mars bluff, but hs is quite capable of
writing to then as the Italians had something to do with
shim during the last huroe-1tslian war. hut so far as his
I preference of ue le concerned, he would infinitely r ther
be under our flag then under the Italian.
Our uecret agent, who returned from Tai* on 4th
instant, reported that this dheikh (Mahomed All ithman)
Wi.s called to , una and had already proceeded there. He was
apparently called in connection with the conplalnt of the
people of oxha against his oppression which is der.oribed
as being worse then thi t of the Imsa'e Zeidl representativei
ife letter to me is dated 7th March and wae evidently wrlttc
after hie return iron ..,ana»
Mulazlm J ahmood xtfancxi amin, a Turk, who lately
arrived at notat hakim on route to Aden states that no
TurLs 0 ;in leave the ieraen wit^eut the previous sanction of