File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎38r] (73/450)

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w e tTonsllIdt™abli retUrned t0 MaVk ° n th6 1Uh DeCember - The re P° rte
-ksent acoDvIfthP W 6 ^* 283 V' [A ^ ab f n E , e P ort ’ N - S - XXI, p. 7 |, General Barrow
^and of th ^ r ? ffi ° e a ? d enc L mred “ whether, in view of this communication
Be ; r ?!l,Wi P + Spe0t 0 -j tl ' 0 T bem ? Set free from India . th e Army Council would
attempted ” re0 ° nSldei ’ thelr 0 P 1Iuon th at operations from Aden should not be
T , • o be G-O-C Aden telegraphed on the 18th December [910/12] that on that day
, ?“!' n , ei r s „ bad emnnienced their instruction ; and on the 19th [920/13] that it was
repoi ted that [. Ismail] Bflfendi was to be sent to collect revenue in the Fadli country.
11 this should be true, it would reallymean an attempt to control or stop Abyan trade
Lower Mesopotamia.
The G.O.C. Force L) telegraphed on the 13th December saying that in regard to
exports from the Euphrates, the latest news was that Rashid Inn Laila, an agent of
Ibn Kashici, with a caravan of flour and rice for Hail, had been stopped and his goods
had been seized by the inhabitants of Mashha Ali Najaf. At Basra, Zubair, and
Khamisiyah we have our own preventive measures, Ibn Saud and the Shaykhs of
Koweyt, Balnem, v^)uai/ai, and the iruciai Coast have been warned repeatedly, and
political officers are using their utmost endeavours, in co-operation with the Shaykhs, to
keep a check on export to interior, and restrict to authorised places and persons, but it
is impossible entnely t > ensure against deflection of goods after reaching the interior.
I should be glad to have all the detads obtainable as to the nature, precise source,
and extent of the supplies reaching Medina.
The C.P.O. at Basra telegraphed on the 12 th December that Dhari Ibn Tawalah had
received, through a Shammar messenger, an unsigned letter which purported to come
from Saud Ibn Suohan, and was believed to be genuine. The Ottoman Government,
according to the letter, alarmed by the Sherif’s success, had sent Ibn Lailah, Ibn Rashid’s
agent in Constantinople, to get Shammar help for the siege of Taif. No tribesmen
being found in Hail, Ibn Lailah proceeded to Iraq to raise the Mesopotamian Shammar.
Dhari Ibn lawalah reported that the Shammar Shaykhs of Sinjarah and Turnan at
Subaika, two days south of Najaf, were in close correspondence with him, and desirous
of coming in. It was further reported that, with the object of buying horses and
provisions for Ibn Rashid, Ibn Lailah had reached Najaf, and that he intended to attack
the Sherif. The local tribes refused to allow the caravan to pass, and any movement
against the Sherif was delayed, Ibn Lailah being held up at Najaf. If attacked by the
Turks the people of that place are said to be determined to resist. Kaevihim Yazdi,
the principal Sayid of Najaf, was reported to be preaching a Jehad against the Turks.
The same Shammar messenger reported that it, was Ibn Subhan’s intention to
murder Ibn Rashid and then take his place under our protection. The messenger saw
the A.P.O. at Zubair, > who held out no hope of connivance at murder. He left
before the answer of the C.P.O. could be received.
Hillah had been the scene of fresh disturbances. Akif Addis Bey, formerly
commandant of Kill, having appeared at Musaiyib, with a force estimated at from
4,000-6,000 men (some of whom were said to be fresh troops come down the Euphrates),
wrote to the leading Saivid of Hillah, Mohammed Qazwini, demanding a clear passage
for his force, which the people of that place refused. Akif Addis reached Hillah on the
15th November and invited the leading inhabitants to come out, under a safe conduct,
to meet him. They did so and were immediately seized, the town was occupied, several
quarters were demolished, Mohammed Qazwini was imprisoned, and eight other
notables were hanged. Saiyid Hadi Qazwini succeeded in escaping, and was stirring
up the tribes against the Turks.
PART III.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Kut Prisoners.
On the 17th December GI.G.S. telegraphed to C.-in-C. India that confidential
information had been received from a reliable source to the following effect. Of the
[898-21] C