146 WARBYREVOLUTIONSinceAugust 1914 theGermanagent,OttoMannesmann,hadat-
temptedtocontacttheShaykhal-SanussifromTripoli;byFebruary
1915,numerousTurkishemissaries,amongthemSulaymanal-Barani,
EnverPasha'sbrotherNuri,andaBaghdadiArab,]aafirBeyal-Askari,
hadarrivedattheshaykh'scamp,thenlocatedonthecoastofCyren-
aica.BoththeGermansandTurkssoughttopersuadetheSayyid
Ahmadtojointhesultan-caliph'sholywaragainstBritainbyattack-
ingwesternBgypr.>TheTurksparticularlycovetedtheshaykh'sas-
sistance;his prestige,andthatofhisreligiousorder,extendedbe-
yondCyrenaicatoSanussicommunitiesinEgypt,theSudan,Arabia,
andotherpartsoftheIslamicworld.Moreover,hissupportforthe
TurkscouldoffsettheSharifofMecca'slukewarm,ifnotdisaffected,
attitudetowardthePorte.
ButinitiallytheShaykhal-Sanussishoweddislikeforthearriving
Turks,imprisoningal-BaraniandtreatingNuriPashapoorly.Atthe
beginningof 1915 theshaykhhadencampedatMasaad,a fewkilome-
tersfromal-Sallum,aBritishcoastaloutpostonthepoorlydefined
Libyan-Egyptianborder.TherethousandsoftribesmenoftheAulad
Ali, apeopleofthewesternEgyptiandesertwhohadnotpreviously
seentheMuslimleader,visitedhimandpaidtheirrespects;he also
collectedfoodandsuppliesfromtheAuladAli-butoften,theBrit-
ishobserved,by force.ItalianmilitarypressurefromTripolitania,the
westernportionofLibya,hadpushedtheshaykhandhisBedouins
eastward,fartherfromtheItaliansandclosertotheprotectionofthe
Egyptianfrontier.
TheideapersistedamongtheItalians,despiteassurancesfrom
bothGermanyandTurkey,thattheTurkishagentswishedonlyto
raisetheBedouinsagainstBritain,andthattheagitationwould
alsoincitethetribesmenfurtheragainstItaly.Rome,consequently,
demandedthatBerlinrecallMannesmannfromTripoli.Butonly
attheendofMarch 1915 didhereturn,briefly,toGermany,follow-
ingexpressionsofoutragefromtheItaliangovernmentandpress
attheconfiscationofacargoofGermanarmshiddeninbeerbar-
relsaboardashipinVenice, ashipmentarrangedforbyMannes-
mannanddestinedforTripoli."OnordersfromNadolnyand
Wesendonk,MannesmannsoonreturnedviaCreteto Libya, dis-
guisedas asalesman.HecarriedapromisetotheShaykhal-Sanussi