King - making in Arabia was expedient in wartime; but the Hashimite
dYnisty set up in the Hejaz has not -endured. King Hussein was a useful and expensive ally against Turkey, but in peace time his relations with Egypt became difficult for all . concerned and his subjects did not find him all that we hoped we had given them as a ruler. So he departed and his son, Ali, reigned in his stead on a throne that had become particularly uncomfortable. Last week he left it hastily for the Court of his brother, King Feisul. The power in Medina, Mecca and the surrounding country is now entirely in the hands of Ibn Saud and his fanatical, puritanical Wahabi followers. Fanatic jealousy of other Moslem sects is not a good basis for peaceful authority after successful fighting and the destruction of shrines held in honour by others.
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