dated August 29, 1951: Abdullah assassination: six sentenced to death

A military court in Abdali, near Amman, trying 10 accused in the King Abdullah assassination case delivered judgment on the 28th. It sentenced six men to death but found the other four not guilty. The death sentence was given in absentia to two men - Col. Abdullah Tell, ex-Governor of Jerusalem, and Musa Ahmed Ayubi, a former vegetable merchant, both of whom had fled to Egypt soon after King Abdullah's slaying in a mosque on July 20. The most prominent receiver of the capital punishment order was Dr. Musa Abdulla Hussein, a holder of doctorate in Philosophy from the Universities of London and Berlin, who had taken part in the Arab-Jewish fighting in 1949 and was a cousin of Haj Amin El Husseini, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. It was significant that this was one man who pleaded guilty to the charges read out against him. The others sentenced to death were Abed Okke, cattle merchant, his brother Zakariya, also a cattle merchant and butcher, and Abdul Qadir Farhat, a coffee-house keeper - all belonging to Jerusalem. Those adjudged not guilty were Daud Husseini, a former dentist who had organised the `jihad muqaddars' (holy warriors) military formation during the 1948 fighting, his brother, Tewfik Husseini, who had been curator of the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem, Kamel Kaluti, a cattle-dealer, and Father Ibrahim Ayyad, a Franciscan friar.

President clears HR and CE Bill

The Law Minister, Mr. K. Madava Menon, announced in the Assembly that the President of India had assented to the controversial Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Bill, passed earlier locally. It was then reserved by the Governor for Presidential assent, and sent to New Delhi on March 15. The Bill inter alia, was meant to regulate Hindu mutts. It provided for the setting up of area advisory committees, each having three non-officials and two officials, all Hindus. The committees would advise the heads of the mutts on most matters and also implement provisions to divert funds for ``other purposes''. The measure had been opposed on the ground that it interfered with the Hindu religion by taking away the autonomy of mutts which are religious institutions and that it provided for the Government to take over their management.

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