Evening star., 1925-11-27
CAN DEFY FRENCH
ANOTHER YEAR, WRITER SAYS
Riff Army Unbeatable by Present Tactics American
Correspondent Believes and En-
barge Arms Chief Disadvantage.

selves. yet 1t is the only figure which
conforms to the obvious facts, as I
saw them In all parts of the country
On the French front last month, the
total strength of the Riff army varied
between 5000 and rs 900. counting all
the Arabs, many of whom changed
sides from one day to another through
out the campaign.
The Rif army Is equipped with
rifles and hand grenades, but the sup
ply Of grenades is very limited. The
supply Of rifles isalmost unlimited and
includes more than $4,000 Spanish
rifles besides 5000 to 10000 French
arms, of which 1900 are modern
Lebels. bought last Winter in Algeria
Get Spanish Rifles.
There is no shortage Of rifles, and It
is unlikely there will ever be any
| shortage as long as the Spanish have
any to lose. But ammunition is al
ready looking low, and 1 learned that
the reserves for the next few months
are causing worry already.
The Arab population is held to Add.
el-krim by two means-first, the ap-
peal OF Moslem fanaticism. and second
by intimidation. The first means Is
generally sufficient, but there is plenty
OF the second also. as I saw in Rho
tribes just north of Beni Zeroual
The difficulty Of finding a name for
this dissimilar nation and disparate
army has been solved by religion. The
army Is referred to as "Muslemin "
Abd-elKrim is referred to as the
Sultan Of Islam"
Morale Is maintained almost unim-
paired, except on the French border,
thanks to the telephone, which unites
all parts Of the country and serves as
powerful instrument Of propaganda.
In their darkest hours the RifYians,
too, ma nufacture victories, like their
European opponents. Thus I learned
on the French border the surprising
news hat the Riff army had captured
Tetuan,-informatio similar to that
which astonished me on my arrival
in Tangier to the effect that the
Spa anish have captured Ajdir!
The generals commanding the Riff
Army are five, counting Abd.el. rim
himself. who seldom takes the field.
The only really flrst-rate commander
in the European sense is Sidi Moham-
med. the commander-in-chie Next
in rank comes Hamid Boudra, minister
Of war, tribesman Of the old school,
who now commands the Tetuan front.
On the French front the two generals
since the beginning Of the war have
been Shaib Ben Moha, a clever guer-
rilla fighter, who directs the eastern
zone. and Caid Absalem Bel Hadj Mo-
hammed, an obstinate old soldier and
terrible disciplinarian, who COM
mands the front reaching from Wez.
zan to Wergha.
Favored By Terrain.
This army, tiny as 1t may seem
with its inadequate equipment, Is
strengthened tenfold by the condi-
tions of topography and climate, and
by the fact that there Is neither waste
| motion nor wasted energy Of any sort.
There are no supply trains or supply
system. The army lives off the coun.
try. The standard of living is habitu-
ally so low in the Interior of Morocco
that a soldier is able to fight many
| weeks on a daily ration consisting
| solely Of two loaves of brown barley
| bread.
The army's equipment travels on
the soldiers backs and weather or bad
terrain is non-existent to either Riffian
| or Arab.
These reasons. despite the tremen.
| dous disparity of numbers and equip.
| ment between the opposing forces,
| have convinced me. during my two
| months of observation, that Abd-el-
Kr1m can still defy both France and
Spain until this time next year. And
| II external factors intervene, as seems
| increasingly likely. the Riff chief
| stands good chance to achieve his
| desired victory and independence.
| lCopyright. 1925. in United States. Great
am.riean s0ssn 1na Japan py NoEth
l reserved