File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎395r] (798/834)

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at Mecca, but, according to reports received, he is experiencing
some difficulty in carrying out his mission. Egyptians are not
always endowed with a superabundance of tact and patience,
and monarchs of King Husein’s calibre are not addicted to the
study of economics. However, Sani Effendi’s visit will at least
serve to emphasize the pressing need for competent advisers to
the Hejaz Government, and he will doubtless be able to collect
useful information from unofficial sources.
King Husein received Captain Agub Khan, the officer
recently appointed to watch over British interests at Mecca, with
good grace and has even insisted on paying the first year’s rent
of the house which has been taken as his official residence.
A Baghdadi named Sabry Bey seems to be in great favour
with Emir Abdullah at present. Abdullah’s desire to be Prince
of Mesopotamia is well known, and because of this ambition
Baghdadis have always figured prominently on his staff. But he >
lost most of his Baghdadi sycophants in the Tarabah battle. (
Sabry Bey, an evil-looking person, was on the staff of Fakhri
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. at Medina. He remained with the Turks right up to the
armistice, and until he realized that there was no possible
alternative to surrendering the city, he supported Fakhri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
in all his efforts to avoid complying with the terms of the armis
tice. Fakhri, however, never trusted him, and described him as
a deceiver and a self-seeker.
King Husein has recently been granted a Grand Commander-
ship of the Bath, and Emirs Ali and Abdullah Grand Commander-
ships of the Order of the British Empire. They have expressed
keen satisfaction at the awards.
In his Intelligence Report, dated March 2, the British Agent
at Jeddah states that highway robberies still continue.
“ Deplorable as this state of affairs may be,” writes Colonel
Vickery, “ I do not find in it any political meaning. During the
war the Bedu were well paid and well fed—at our expense.
They have now reverted to conditions worse than before the war.
Unable to obtain money or food from the King, prohibited from
buying more than small amounts in the large towns, they have
resorted to their old methods of livelihood.
“ The King is said to be holding up corn supplies and food
stuffs in order to force the Bedu into submission from hunger.
This is not a very statesmanlike solution of the problem, nor a
very practicable one, as a Bedouin, if compelled, can live on a
date a day. .
“ The King also thinks that by this method he will force
recruits into his army, oblivious of the well-known fact that