The wheels of Abdelkrim’s flight were actually set in motion when the SS Katoomba stopped in Aden. The details of what happened there were told by Farouq Loqman, son of Mohamed Ali Loqman, publisher of the Adeni English daily “Aden Chronicle”, who was a friend of Eltaher. In an article published by the London daily “Asharq Al-Awsat” in July 1993, Loqman mentioned that he was a young student in Aden and knew Abdo Hussein Eladhal, who had sent the telegram to Eltaher notifying him that Abdelkrim had left aboard that ship on its way to Suez. In his memoirs, Eladhal mentioned that “on May 22, 1947 the Australian ship SS Katoomba, with Abdelkrim on board, moored at Aden to refuel.
“Nobody was aware of Abdelkrim’s presence, of course. However, Abdelkrim’s children went ashore to visit the city and, by pure coincidence, Eladhal bumped into them on Zaafaran Street. Recognizing that they had an Arab profile from their clothes and language, he welcomed them, but soon learned from the conversation with the elder son that he was the son of the Rif hero Abdelkrim. The son then invited Eladhal to accompany him to the ship, where he met Abdelkrim in preson, and invited him and his family to honour the city by a visit.”
Eladhal goes on in his memoirs and tells about a luncheon he organized at one of Aden’s hotels to which he invited several of the city’s personalities. He added that "...as soon as news of Abdelkrim’s presence hit the streets of Aden, a large number of people converged on the hotel to cheer him and filled the neighbouring streets. When Abdelkrim and his party were driven around town, several people drove along as well". Eladhal concluded that “at 3 p.m. on May 23, 1947, the SS Katoomba left Aden with Abdelkrim and his family on board. After he bade them farewell, he dispatched telegrams to several people he estimated would be able to rescue Abdelkrim from his captors.” One such telegram was the one sent to Eltaher as mentioned and illustrated above.
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At the entrance to the Arab Maghreb Bureau in Cairo 1947
Front row right to left: Mohamed Ali Eltaher; Tunisian nationalist Habib Bourguiba; Abdelkrim El-Khattabi;
Emir Fadl Bin Abdel-Karim, Sultan of Lahj and Allal El-Fassi, leader of the Moroccan Istiqlal Party
Second row right to left: Tunisian nationalist Habib Thameur; Mohieddine El-Klibi in Tunisian national costume; Abdallah El-Jeffry, Advisor to the Sultans of Lahj, wearing a Lahj turban; the others “unidentified” |
In his above-mentioned 1962 interview with “Al-Hayat” newspaper, Eltaher said that “when France moved Abdelkrim and his family in 1947 from their exile in La Réunion, it had declared that they were being transferred to southern France for humanitarian reasons. In reality, France wanted to use Abdelkrim to threaten King Mohamed V of Morocco, whom France was not able to subdue, let alone pacify its people. France thought that if Mohamed V would not do as told, it would wave with Abdelkrim, and threaten to install him as ruler instead of Mohamed V.
Before his capture, it must be recalled, Abdelkrim had declared a Republic in northern Morocco before his capture. It must also be pointed out that France had used the same tactic in the nineteenth century in its war with Emir Abdelqader Al-Jazaeri, when it deceptively suggested to Sultan Abderrahman of Morocco that Emir Abdelqader, the leader of Algeria, intended to conquer Morocco and end the Sultan’s dynasty. France was thus able to incite the Sultan against Abdelqader and prevent Morocco from supporting the Algerians who were fighting against the French".
