(2 of 3)
Consider the great man in the Riff: Abd-el-Krim, or Abdel-Krim, was born about the year 1883. Little is known of his early life, except that his father, also Abd-el-Krim, was a cadi (pronounced cah-dee), or lawgiver, at Melilla. Abd-el-Krim Jr. followed his father, studied law, became a loyal subject of the Sultan.
In contrast to paunchy, swarthy, massive Raisuli, who recently died while a prisoner in the Riff,* Abd-el-Krim is of medium height, a Berber—that is, a descendant of the Visigoths. Like Raisuli, he is liberally bewhiskered, the color of his hair being several shades lighter. He is also an impressive man and looks what he is not: a man of high birth. But he has what a correspondent calls "an impressive refinement of manner." He speaks his native Berber dialect, Arabic, fluent Spanish and a little French. Men, sometimes his enemies, call him able.
During the War, he was under suspicion for favoring the Germans, and under that cloud he remains today. A break in his career occurred when the Spanish arrested him, probably in 1917, for seditious conspiracy against Spain. He was thrown into prison; but later escaped, seriously injuring his left leg in so doing. Straightway he went to the Riff, a mountainous territory to the east end of the Spanish zone in Morocco. To his own tribe, the Beni Warriageli, he told stories of Spanish misrule, dwelling upon the Spaniards' cruelty and incapacity. He pictured them as exploiters of the country and called upon his own tribe to free the Riff from their accursed sway. To a man the Beni Warriagelis joined him. Thus began the resistance of the Riffians to the Spanish which resulted two years later (1921) in the catastrophe of Melilla, the battle which freed all the Riff and inflicted a colossal defeat on the Spanish forces, a defeat from which the Spanish have never recovered.
In carrying out his campaign, Abd-el-Krim has not been alone. His brother, Muhammad, a qualified engineer, is his able lieutenant. His cabinet, or Council of Wazirs, contains his brother-in-law, Sidi Muhammad bal Hadj Hitmi, as a sort of Premier. The War Minister is Hamid Boudra, whose very shadow is venerated throughout the Riff. Muhammad Azarkhan is the astute Foreign Minister extremely able and well educated. Abd-el-Salam el-Khtabi and Liazid bal Hadj are respectively Ministers of Finance and Interior. All of these men are brilliant in no ordinary sense of the word, as witness the efficiency of their administration, which shows itself in the able way the war against first Spain, then against Spain and France, has been conducted.