File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [‎50v] (109/995)

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The terms also of course include payment of Government dues, return
of stolen property and refusal of shelter to outlaws. The fines are being
steadily recovered.
It seems as if a military promenade in the Kifri and Kirkuk area would
he necessary before order can he described as having been completely
restored.
Sulaimani Division.
In this Division thanks mainly to recollections of last year’s events, a
good harvest and the vigorous administration of Major Soane there has been
no open outbreak. The position was nevertheless for some time critical, and
but for air action taken against certain Dizli and Rezan villages near Halab-
jah on the 17th September there would certainly have been trouble. As it
is, the leading malcontents, viz., Ja‘far Sultan, Shaikh Alapiddin and
Hamid Beg, have made submission and trouble has been averted. Events
in Keui reacted unfavourably on the Chemchemal and Rania districts, and
the whole period was filled with alarums and excursions; but thanks to the
activity of the Levies, order was maintained. There still remain however
dangerous elements in both districts. Measures are being taken against the
Chemchemal Hamawand, but it will take time to deal with them effectively.
Diyalah Division.
Here the first objective was to re-open the line from Baghdad to the
Persian frontier. The column which had been sent into the Division during
August devoted itself primarily to this and only secondarily to the chastise
ment of the tribes. The settlement made with the Diyalah tribes was there
fore rather of an unsatisfactory nature, and the manner in which its terms
have been observed by them especially the tribes of the left bank, more un
satisfactory still. The original terms are contained in the appendix to your
0/2148/147, dated the 27th September, 1920.
Since these remain in large measure unfulfilled by the tribes, further
military operations in the Division have been and still are necessary. As
a result of these the same policy of rifle fines, which has been approved and
is being enforced elsewhere, has been introduced in the Diyalah Division.
Modified terms, including the surrender of rifles, have now been accepted
by the Bani Tamim and most of the left bank tribes, but it is improbable
that they will fulfil them except under compulsion. These terms are on
record under your 0/2148/239, dated 28th October, 1920.
On the 15th August the notables of the town of Mandali, who till then
had been profuse in their professions of adherence to the British cause, sud
denly turned against the D.A.P.O.—an Indian officer named Saiyid Baha
dur Ali Shah, Khan Sahib, imprisoned him, released the prisoners in
lock-up, and took possession of the Government Treasury. The D.A.P.O.
was kept prisoner until the 25th September, and only then sent in under
threat of bombing. He was however not seriously ill-treated by his captors,
whose energies were mainly taken up with organizing a Baratarian Govern
ment m the town. They still remain to be dealt with, but the Mandali
tribes took no overt action against Government.
It is no reflection upon Major Bourdillon, I.C.S., who has been holding
temporary charge of the Division and in that capacity has displayed coin-
mendable energy and common sense to regret the absence through illness of
Major Hues during this critical period, in which his personal popularity
and intimate knowledge of the people of the Diyalah Division would have
been invaluable.
lurther operations, as has been said, are necessary and are in progress
on the left bank. On the right bank we depend on the ’Azzah whose Shaikh
Habib had the good sense to quit the insurgent cause early on favourable
terms. T or the time being he has been appointed A.P.O. Daltawah with
the former A.P.O. as his adviser. It is too early yet to say how the experi
ment is working. J p
In this Division too a military promenade upon the right bank seems
necessary m addition to the operations on the left now in progress.
Baghdad Division.
A punitive raid on the Mushahidah tribe, who had been harbourino*
bv thf A PO^ B^ lf a n d M 1 u ^ mmad Sad r al Din, carried out
y fie A.P.O. Baghdad (Capt. Campbell) on the 27th August from the
defence vessel Hoverfly sporadic action by troops and police in the
neighbourhood of Baghdad, and the constant attentions of the R AF to
the tents of Dhan al Dhalnr, Shaikh of the Zobah, the murderer of Colonel
Leachman, together with the re-openmg of the Fallujah line, put an end
to trouble m the Division early in the period under report. In the town there
was some recrudescence of excitement during September and when towards
the close of the month, the notorious Abdul Majid al Kannah was executed in
accordance with a sentence of a military court, there were some demonstrations.