THEGERMANTHREATONTHEPERIPHERY 149sailorandseveral Arabs.Mannesmanntermedtheaffairan"accident,"
butwhentheSayyidAhmad,whoapologizedtotheBritish,refused
toarresttheGermanandturnhimover toBritain,Mannesmann
andNurisetforthtomanufactureanewincident.'?"A few weekslater
Mannesmannled a forceofBedouinsinattackinganItalianwarship
thathadattemptedwithoutsuccesstolandtroopswestofal-Sallum.
Mannesmann'sactions,reportsofwhicharrivedinBerlinweeks af-
tertheyoccurred,seemedtoimprovehisrelationswithNuriandthe
Turkishofficers.TheyalsopushedtheSayyidAhmadincreasingly
towardamoreanti-Britishstance.Mannesmannimpressedtheshaykh
withstoriesofGermany'spowerandmilitarysuccessesinEurope;
suchaccounts,as well astheshaykh'sexperiencesinfightingthein-
competentanddilatoryItaliancolonialarmy,mayhavemisledhim
intobelievingthatwarwiththeBritishwouldbesimilarlyeasy."?
Furthermore,theSayyidAhmadwas anold-fashionedandhead-
strongMuslim;hethusfounditdifficulttorefusetheOttomansul-
tan-caliph'sinstructionstoattackinwesternEgypt.Militarily,from
thePorte'sviewsuchanattackwouldeaseBritain'spressureonthe
TurkishforcesinPalestineandtheSinairegion,whichthreatenedthe
SuezCanal.ThesayyiddispatchedletterstoMuslimleadersinIndia
andArabiaurgingthemtojointhejihadagainsttheinfidelsandan-
nouncingthathe wasthecaliph'srepresentativeinNorthAfrica."?
Moreover,hecalledtheGermanshis"brothers,"leadingMannes-
mann,whohadmovedbyOctobertotheshaykh'scampatMasaad,
toconcludethathewouldattackEgyptimmediatelyonceGermany
sentmorearmsandmoney.Thesayyid evenemphasizedtherequest
inthreelettershedispatchedviaConstantinopletotheGermanem-
peror.Inaddition,theshaykhdeclaredthathehadcontactedAli
Dinar,thesultanofDarfur,aprovinceinwesternSudanstillnot
effectivelyunderAnglo-Egyptianrule;thesultanhadsupposedly
agreedtoattacktheBritishsimultaneouslywiththeSanussis'assault
onEgypt."
Meanwhile,theBritishandItalianshadobservedtheincreasingly
threateningattitudeoftheSanussis.NotonlydidtheBritishcon-
firmMannesmann'spresenceattheShaykhal-Sanussi'scamp,but
alsoBritishintelligenceaccidentallydiscoveredthelettersdispatched
bytheshaykhtoMuslimofficialsinArabiaandIndia.:"