Moroccan War Ends

Franco-Spanish troops, continuing their recent offensive against Abd-El-Krim from the South and East (TIME, May 17 et seq.), were astonished to discover one morning last week that the enemy had vanished in the night, that white flags were aflutter where Riffian machine guns popped when darkness fell. After conducting for five years one of the most stubborn "native revolts" of the present century against the encroachment of "civilized powers," Abd-El-Krim apparently decided last week that his jig was up--sued for peace, surrendered unconditionally.

Krim's action was the more surprising because at the recent Oujda Peace Conference (TIME, May 10) his representatives haughtily refused comparatively liberal Franco-Spanish terms; and though the Riffi had been steadily pushed back since then, Krim himself was expected to hold out with his immediate followers for some time to come. The French Resident General in Morocco, M. Jules Steeg, therefore received with the greatest suspicion last week a message from Krim suing for immediate peace. Not until some 300 French and Spanish prisoners had been freed by the Riffi as an earnest of good faith, did the French seriously prepare to receive the surrender of Krim in person. Then a rumor spread that a majority of his adherents, frightened by the Franco-Spanish advance, had shown signs of turning upon their leader; had driven him to anticipate their change of heart by throwing himself upon the mercy of the French.

Krim Comes. At 5:00 on a raw chill morning last week the French sentry at Ize Marouene, an outpost north of Targuist, spied a cloud of dust which resolved itself into eight mounted men. Two were French officers, four were native riflemen. In their midst rode two portly figures in loose Riffian garments. One was the Sherif Hamedou Quedzani, chief of the Sanadas tribe, the envoy through whom the final details of submission had been negotiated. The second Riffian, a plump but well knit man with a shrewd impassive face and hard luminous eyes, was of course Mohammed ben Abd-El-Krim.

Reining in his white Arabian horse, he gazed for a moment tranquilly upon the troop of French soldiers, who stood rigidly at attention to receive him. With a swift and surprisingly graceful movement he swung off his horse and strode over a pile of stones and past a half dead fire to where General Ibos, Commander of the French Moroccan division, stood waiting. With a bow entirely courteous but neither hurried nor deferential, the fallen Sultan placed himself at General Ibos' disposal. After ten minutes of discussion as to the disposition of the captives' wives and personal suite, who he insisted should be brought from the hills to accompany him, Mohammed ben Abd-El-Krim set off with General Ibos for Taza, the intended scene of his formal surrender.

Krim. As the cavalcade wound through tortuous Riffian bridle paths, Frenchmen pondered the history of their captive. His fluent Spanish rose naturally to the lips of a Riffian born in easy circumstances, the son of a Judge, who until about 1917 served as a clerk in the Spanish Oficina Indigena (Bureau of National Activities) at Melilla and grew incensed at the shameless corruption of Spain's administration of northern Morocco under the protectorate convention of 1912.

The air of shrewdness characteristic of Krim betokened the born statesman who had summoned his brother M'hammed ben AbdEl Krim, unquestionably a born general, to lead the forces which they collected about them by intrigue among the Riffian chiefs between 1918 and 1921.

Then, in the latter year, came their astounding expedition at the head of 5,000 Riffi which surprised, captured and disarmed 20,000 Spaniards under General Navarro. With this supply of captured arms more than 20,000 additional Riffi were put in the field, and eventually an army numbering perhaps 80,000 was assembled, armed with captured or smuggled equipment. By 1924, Krim and his brother had driven the Spaniards out of almost the entire Riff. Shortsightedly they incurred the wrath of France by a raid on French Morocco in which their forces nearly captured Fez. Instead of thereby intimidating France, and--as they appear to have hoped--persuading her to exert pressure upon Spain to grant the Riff autonomy, they instead roused the French to an active fear lest Krim become supreme throughout both French and Spanish Morocco.

From this fear sprang the concerted Franco-Spanish action of the past year, which resulted in the disruption of Krim's power last week.

Formal Surrender. At Camp Giradot, near Taza, Mohammed ben Abd-El-Krim performed the official gesture of laying down his arms. A minimum of ceremony was observed by the French, since Spain has long exerted pressure to have the upstart "Sultan" treated as a mere tribal chief upon his surrender. General Boichut resolved this situation with great tact, announced that he had sprained his ankle, sent a group of subordinate officers to receive the sword of Krim.

Resident-General Steeg of Morocco is reputed to have secured Krim's surrender by promises of immunity; whereas at Paris and Madrid a considerable faction began last week to tout the slogan: "Hang Abd-El-Krim."

M. Steeg accordingly announced that, since Krim technically "rebelled" against the Sultan of Morocco at Fez instead of "attacking" France and Spain, the Sultan must decide his fate. As everyone knows, Sultan Mulai Yusef of Morocco is a mere puppet of the French. His "decision," unannounced last week, was presumably being drawn up at Paris by officials well informed of M. Steeg's reputed agreements.

To correspondents at Taza, Krim said:

"I am under the safe-keeping of France, whose sentiments toward the Mussulman populations I know well."

Asked how he had financed so long a war, he replied: "I obtained from Spain many millions of pesetas as ransom for prisoners."