The ex-Mufti of Jerusalem has not been captured by British authorities, Reuters announced today in a dispatch from Port Said. Yesterday Reuters reported that the ex-Mufti had been seized during a search of a British troop transport in the Suez Canal.
In this morning’s report Reuters says that it was apparently suspected that the Mufti boarded a troop ship at a French port in the guise of a crew member. Although the search did not uncover him, Reuters points out that British official silence concerning the manhunt encouraged the “general belief” that the Mufti had been discovered.
The news agency declares that its report that the Mufti was being carried off to exile on a British warship passing through the Suez Canal on special priority “was also incorrect.” Canal officials said today that the destroyer Virago, which was allegedly carrying the Mufti to impressments in the Indian Ocean, never entered the Suez but steamed out of Fort Said into the Mediterranean Sea last night.
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