STILL UNDEFINED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 May 1941, Page 5

STILL UNDEFINED

POSITION IN IRAQ GERMANS GATHERING SHIPS IN AEGEAN. VESSELS BROUGHT FROM BLACK SEA. LONDON. May 19. The arrival of fresh reinforcements at Habbania by air, including some of the most warlike units of the Indian Army, has cheered the besieged garrison, says the “Daily Telegraph's Jerusalem correspondent. The former besiegers seem momentarily on the defensive, and the garrison was not even upset by an attack by a small group of German planes on May 16. However, with the threat of German reinforcements still impending. it- cannot be said that the situation is yet entirely happy. One indication of Rashid Ali's failure to rally the whole body of his countrymen behind him is that the Arab tribes in the Euphrates Valley have so far shown no signs of joining the movement, though they have been among the fiercest participants in every previous anti-foreign trouble. In the meantime the attacks continue against the enemy planes from Syrian aerodromes, and not only have German planes eben destroyed but also runways have been smashed. Most of the British colony in Syria have now crossed the border into Palestine.

A Free French officer who was in Svria recently stated emphatically that nine-tenths of the military and civil populations desired an Allied victory, and the Germanophiles were limited to only one small clique of higher officers. The French army in Syria is between 45,001) and 50.000. and is mostly composed of colonials. Ihe equipment has deteriorated since the Armistice through neglect, and much of it is now unserviceable. There are about 300 planes of which only 30 per cent, are thought to be airworthy, while the petrol supplies are shod.

OIL FLOWS ONLY TO SYRIA. Iraq oil is (lowing once more through the pipeline from Mosul to the Syrian port of Tripoli, but recently a mysterious explosion put out of action the refinery at Tripoli, which is the largest in Syria. Incidentally, the Iraquis, while permitting the flow of oil to Tripoli, cut oil' the supplies by the pipe-line to Haifa While the British fleet and air force operating from Alexandria. Crete and Cyprus can prevent the Italians and Germans from landing large forces in Syria, the Germans are accumulating a respectable fleet of transports in ports on the Aegean Sea by bringing Axis. Bulgarian and Rumanian ships through the Dardanelles from the Black Sea. The Egyptian Cabinet sal all day on May 17 to discuss events, the gravity of which is evident, says a French news agency message from Cairo. Several Turkish newspapers declare that Britain must occupy Syria urgently. One paper says she should have done so long ago. ARMS TRAFFIC THROUGH TURKEY. An Ankara message reports that several train-loads of war materials passed from Syria to Iraq on Friday and Saturday. As the railway passes through Turkey, the Turks under the convention, must have been notitled of the passage of such materials in excess of one truck-load but they have no power to hold tip tralTic. This, however is not expected to continue, as it is known that stocks of munitions and petrol in Syria are short.

The French Governor of Syria, General Dentz. broadcasting from Beirut in French and Arabic, said: “You heard the address of Marshal Petain, which was full of firlnness and wisdom. It means that Vichy is determined to secure order and peace for France and her Empire. After the incident at Dakar, England has now seen fit to attack aerodromes in Syria, under the pretext that they have been put at the disposal of the Germans. . Actually, I German planes only flew over Syria. ■ -There is nothing to prevent France from defending the independence of her empire. The course of events will only draw France, Syria and. Lebanon closer together. My task is to defend llic skies and soil of Syria, and I am determined to fulfil that duty. We are prepared to meet force by force. FREE FRENCH PROTEST. The Cairo correspondent of the independent French news agency says the National Committee of Frenchmen in Egypt has drawn up a declaration in which it protests against the cession cf Syrian aerodromes to Germany. The declaration says: “The committee emphatically denounces the hypocritical, underhand character of the concession, which, by creating a new menace to the valiant Imperial troops in the Middle East, may oblige our ally to take legitimate measures of defence. We know that in protesting against this last particularly odious abdication we are acting as the mouthpiece of all the French in the homeland who are obliged to keep silence." Bombay reports that the Nizam of Hyderabad has delivered a message to Moslems in India explaining at length the reasons for Anglo-Indian military measures in Iraq and condemning the treachery of Rashid Ali. The Nizam appealed to Moslems to join in an expression of disapproval of the action of Rashid Ali and his clique, who have offended against the most solemn precept of Islam, which is to honour a pledged word. RUMOUR OF CLASH BRITISH & FRENCH 'TROOPS ON FRONTIER. LONDON. May 18. 11 was learnt in London today that on May 13 British forces occupied a position 25 miles south of Basra without incident. A message from Istanbul says that R.A.F. planes machine-gunned trains carrying French war materials from Syria to Irak. British and French troops are reported without confirmation to have clashed on the border of Syria and Palestine.