Evening star., 1934-05-04
British Supremacy in hak
Is Threatened BY Ibn Saud
English and French May
Combine against arabs
of Western Asia.
Danger Seen They May
Lose All of Territory
Taken From Turks.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN,

The possibility of grave complica-
tions in the Near East appeared today
when the forces of the Sultan of
Yemen collapsed after bitter fighting
with the army of Sultan Ibn Saud of
Arabia.
The rushing of British warships to
Alden and the possibility of a common
action of the French and the British
and the Italian governments Is due to
the fact that all three nations feel
their possessions and mandates in that
part of Asia are seriously menaced by
the ambitious and powerful Ibn Saud
A conflict Of united British and
French forces against the combined
forces of all the Arabs of Western
Asia might be the result of the other
wise insignificant fact that the Sultan
of Yemen was defeated by Ibn Saud.
The British supremacy in Irau and
Palestine and the French supremacy
in Syria is for the first time since the
end of the World War challenged by
this Arab chieftain.
Rise Is Spectacular.
The rise to power of Ibn Saud has
been spectacular. Starting as a more
or less insignificant chief of nomad
tribes in the eastern section of Arabia,
he desired to become King of Irao
after that country broke away from
Turkey after the war.
The British had promised the throne
OF that country to Feisal, the son of
HuSSein, the Sheriff of Mecca, because
of the assistance he had given the
allies during the war against the
Turks. The famous "Col. Lawrence
of Arabia" insisted that the pledge of
the British government should be kept,
and although FeiSal and his family
were not popular with the Arabs. he
was given the kingdom of Iraq, his
brother was made King of Trans
jordania, and his father, King of
Mecca and Medina.
Paid to Keep Peace.
From his capital at Nejd, Tbn Saud
started to raid Iraq and the British
found it difficult to fight his elusive
nomad warriors. The usual strategy
was employed against Ibn Saud. He
"Ao OAASACo q yColly PCllSlOll VI dUOUL
100000 to keep quiet.
With this money, and by occasional
raids against other sections of Arabia,
1bn Saud obtained a fair amount of
modern war equipment. He also OBJ
tained the services of officers from the
Turkish Army and other soldiers of
fortune who drilled the unruly nomads
into modern army. When the
British stopped the subsidy a few
years later the Sultan began to raid
the territory of Transjordania, where
another British puppet was ruling.
The British again offered peace and
Ibn Saud demanded, instead of cash
payment, arms and ammunition. He
continued to improve his army and
when he was ready King HuSsein was
attacked and driven from his capital.
Extended His Kingdom.
Ibn Saud occupied Mecca and
Medina and extended his kingdom as
far as the Red Sea. The British had
to recognize him as the new King Of
Mecca and sent diplomatic mission
to him.
From this time on, the resources of
Ibn Saud began to increase. The tens
of thousands of Mohammedan pill
grims who go every year to make their
devotion to the tomb of Mohammed
brought in large sums of money. He
increased the pilgrimage taxes and
with the money thus obtained he pur-
chased airplanes, tanks, artillery and
large quantities of machine guns. He
found a number of adventures to
teach his troops to handle the modern
war paraphernalia and this year. when
he thought he was ready to CONSOLE
date the Kingdom of Arabia he at
tackled the weak Imam Yahia, the
ruled of Yemen, in spite of the fact
that he was protege of the British.
Today Ibn Saud is the undisputed
ruler of the entire territory from the
Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and
from the Tansjordanian border to
the Gulf of Alden.
Wants iran Thrnna