"المجلد II. مذكرات بخصوص شؤون خارجية أخرى. ١٩٠٥." [و‎‎٤‎٢] (٢٢٨/٨٨)

Memorandum of information received during
the month of October 1905. regarding
external affairs relating to Arabia.
[Note.—T his memorandum is based upon reports, the accuracy of
which it is not always possible to guarantee.]
ADEN.
1. (See paragraph 4 of the Memorandum
for September 1905.) With regard to the per
manent appointment of a Political Officer at
Dthala, the India Office intimated on the 27th
September 1905 to the Foreign Office that Mr.
Brodrick was prepared to sanction the recom
mendation of the Government of India; and it
was suggested that the Turkish Government
should be invited to agree to an arrangement
whereby communications regarding border dis
putes between the authorities of the British
and Turkish side of the recently demarcated
frontier of the Aden Hinterland should he made
through the channel of the Political Officer at
Dthala. Dthala was not only close to that part
of the frontier where disputes were most likely
to arise, hut would appear to be conveniently
situated for communications with the Turkish
authorities at Taiz as well as at Kataba; and
as the whole length of the demarcated bound
ary was considerably under 200 miles, the
Political Officer should be able to visit any
part of it from Dthala without serious incon
venience.
(For the proceedings of the Imam, see
Turkish Arabia.)
TURKISH ARABIA.
2. The nature of the operations conducted
against the Arab rebels in the Yemen since
the occupation of Mefaq at the latter end of
July, is reported to have been neither import
ant nor arduous. The chief difficulty through
out the campaign has been a want of transport,
especially in the mountains. Kataba is now
held by 700 Syrians. Rauda, north of Sanaa, is
still held by the Imam, but Yerim and Damar
have been retaken by the Turks. One of the
four Zaidi tribes, Dthy Mahomed, is reported
to have placed itself at the Imam’s disposal
(vide paragraph 8 of the Memorandum for
August 1905).
3. In a memorandum, dated the 30th
August 1905, Lord Lansdowne stated that,
without an authoritative expression of opinion
from experts as to the desirability of developing
the resources of Mesopotamia, we were scarcely
in a position to encourage or discourage