THE STATE OF ZANZIBAR.

Hastings Standard, Issue 106, 28 August 1896, Page 2

THE STATE OF ZANZIBAR.

THE SULTAN DIES SUDDENLY. ABDUL liHALED TAKES CONTROL. THE PALACE STORMED BY THE BRITISH. Zanziiiah, August 26. Abdul Khaled controls 2500 troops, and the palace guns are trained on the harbor. H.M.S. Thrush, Sparrow, and Philomel were moored opposite, and on the arrival of the St. George, the flagship, 250 seamen were landed, and Rear-Admiral 11. Rawson, of the latter vessel, sent an ultimatum that unless Khaled completely submitted by 9 o'clock to-day the palace would be bombarded. The British residents in Zanzibar were ordered on board the vessels. Hamid, the late Sultan, died suddenly and it is supposed that he was poisoned. Khaled had the body burned within a couple of hours of death, and he told Mr Basil S. Cave, the British Consul, that he preferred to die before he would quit the palace. Local opinion favors the abolition of the Sultanate and the hoisting of the British flag. Abdul Khaled, declining to submit to the - British admiral, the fleet opened fire on the palace and the bombardment continued for upwards of an hour and then began to cease. The extent of the damage or loss of life is not known. August ,27. Ivhaled's party armed a cargo steamer and fired on a British man-o'-war, but was speedily sunk. The palace and the old Custom house are now heaps of blazing ruins. The British are trying to extinguish the flames. Khaled, with the chief adherents, took refuge in the German Consulate. British sailors are engaged in capturing the rebels. Firing is proceeding in the outskirts of the town, where Captain Raikes and four hundred of the Zanzibar Army remained loyal.