192 WARBYREVOLUTIONFortheirpart,theBritishworriedthroughoutmuchof 1916 about
theimpactoftheeventsinLibya-andafterJune,inArabia-onthe
behaviorofAliDinar,theanti-Britishsultanwhosetribesdominated
Darfur.Thelatterwas astateinwesternSudannoteffectivelycon-
trolledbyKhartoum.DuringthefallWingaterefusedtosparetwo
companiesofSudanesetroopstoassisttherevoltinArabiabecause
of"Darfurrequirements.t'"?
ProblemsinDarfurhadarisenattheveryoutbreakofwarbetween
BritainandTurkey.AliDinar,influencedbypropagandasenthim
fromNuriPasha'sTurkishmissionin Libya,hadproclaimedajihad
againsttheBritish.Attheendof 1915 Wingatehaddiscoveredthat
AliDinarwasplanningtoinvadeotherpartsoftheSudaninconnec-
tionwiththeSanussis'attackonEgypt.
DuringFebruary 1916 WingatewarnedCairothatabuildupby
thesultanofDarfurofhisforcescreated"aseriousmenacetobor-
dertribes[oftheSudan]."InresponsehereinforcedtheSudanese
camelcorpsonthefrontierwithinfantryandartilleryandrequested
furtherarmedassistancefromFrenchtroopsintheneighboring
colonyofWadai.FrenchintelligencealarmedtheBritisheven fur-
therbyreportingthatAliDinarexpectedsoonthearrivalofaship-
mentofarmamentsandmunitionsfromtheSanussisandNuri
Pasha.':"
Britishanxietyregardingthesultan'stie totheSanussis,Turks,
andGermanswasnotentirelyunjustified.Berlinhadhopedfora
longtimeforanattackby AliDinaragainsttheBritishinSudan,and
forSanussiassistanceinshippinghimarmaments.InApril 1916 the
GermanforeignministrybelievedthatthesultanandSayyidAhmad,
thenthebeleagueredShaykhal-Sanussi,hadconcludedanagreement
forsuchcollaboration.Todenwarth,theGermanagentwhovisited
Libyaduringthesummer,dispatchedbycaravantotheSudana let-
tertoAliDinaremphasizingGermanandTurkishmilitarysuccesses
andcallingonhimtojointheSanussisinattackingEgypt."?InAu-
gustEnverPashareportedtotheGermansthatAliDinarhadwaged
waragainsttheBritishsinceMarch,thatNuriPashahadsentacara-
vanfromLibyawithgiftstothesultan,andthatthelatterhadinsuf-
ficientweaponsandmunitions;herequestedshipmentsofthemfrom
theTurksandGermans."?