Great Britain is not directly interested in develop- ments in
the interior of Arabia. Her main concern in the present war is in the effect that it may have upon Arab relations with the Aden Protectorate. For years Anglo-Yemeni relations had been unsatisfactory, owing chiefly to the Imam's refusal to recognize the border which the British had agreed upon with his predecessors, the Ottoman Turks. Last February, however, he signed a treaty with Colonel Reilly, the British Resident at Aden. What is to be the fate of this still unpublished Treaty ? King Ibn Saud has not yet ejected the Imam from his capital at Sanaa, which, by the way,-was chosen for the same reason that the Republican Turks chose Ankara, namely, its inaccessibility, and it is possible that he may never succeed in doing so. But even if the Wahhabi monarch *ere ultimately to annex the Yemen, and so become the direct neighbour of Aden, there is no reason to suppose that his attitude towards Great Britain, which has been constant since pre-War days, would be otherwise than cordial. As during his con- quest ten years ago of the Hejaz, this country is neutral, and can afford to look on with detachment. There is no question of British' intervention.
Previous page
