12 SEPTEMBER 1924, Page 2

The Riff tribes are led by one Abd-El-Krim who, as

we learn from the Times, was not many years ago a clerk in Madrid. The Spanish troops in Morocco now number about 100,000, of whom 60,000 are concentrated in the Tetuan district. The city of Sheshuan is invested, and the Spaniards, of course, feel that they cannot possibly . abandon it. A few days ago the Tangier correspondent of the Times reported that the Riffs - controlled the Tangier-Tetuan road, and that all direct communication between the two cities by that road had ceased, The Riffs know their country as the Boers know the veld, whereas the training of the young Spanish soldiers has been mostly in and around barracks. The Spanish decision to meet the challenge of the enemy may be , inevitable, but if so it is none the less -a lamentable necessity. The - outcome will have its effect upon - the position of the Directory one way or the other.