MOSLEMS INCENSED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 988, 6 May 1911, Page 3

MOSLEMS INCENSED.

RELIC-HUNTERS’ OPERATION’S RESENTED.

RIOTING IN JERUSALEM,

London, May 4,

Captain Parker, brother of the Karl of Morley, has spent ,£60,000 in two years in searching the rockcut passages near the Pool of Siloam, particularly for the treasures of the Kings of Israel and the Ark of the Covenant. Letters from Jerusalem state that the report that King Solomon’s crown and sceptre had been transferred to Captain Parker’s yacht at Jaffa led to a riot, jeopardising the lives of Christians and representatives of the Yeung Turks, who were suspected of favouring the excavations.

Other reports allege the profanation of the Mosques of Omar, the excavators entering at night by bribing the attendants, and securing valuable relics. One of the promoters of Captain Parker’s expedition regards the Jerusalem story as a fabrication. He says the party is working half a mile from the Mosque of Omar. A private letter states that the secrecy of the digging operations aroused the fanaticism of the attendants of the Mosque, who tried to lynch the Sheik of Khalil, believing that he, being in charge of the sacred places at night, had been bribed by the explorers. Constantinople, May 4.

A Special Commission has been appointed by the Porte to investigate the Omar matter. Great alarm was caused on April 21 by reports that the Mosque had been profaned, and the Governor’s life was threatened. Everything is now quiet.