HC Deb 20 March 1885 vol 296 cc51-2
MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he has received confirmation of the following statements made by the Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph:— A messenger from Omdurman, a suburb of Khartoum, which he left on February 10th, has just reached Dongola. This messenger brings the following news:—' Slatin Bey (formerly Governor of Darfur) is in chains at Omdurman. The misfortunes of those in his (the Mahdi's) toils, the writer declares, have reached an unfathomable depth.' The closing sentences of the letter are as follows:—'Khartoum has been sacked, and its people massacred. We calculate the number of victims at over 2,000. The Consul Hansal was murdered, with all the Europeans and General Gordon. This account of the massacre bears out what George, Sir Charles Wilson, and others have told me of having seen Europeans and other bodies floating down the river, some corpses being tied back to back; and, whether Her Majesty's Government have taken any steps to ransom Slatin Bey, and M. Cuzzi, General Gordon's agent at Berber, and the women and children of the loyal inhabitants of Berber and Khartoum, who were sold into slavery after the sack of those cities?

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE

All the information in the possession of Her Majesty's Government with regard to Slatin Bey and Khartoum has been laid before Parliament. Her Majesty's Government have taken no steps to ransom Slatin Bey or M. Cuzzi; but one of the main objects of Lord Wolseley's Expedition will be to secure the safety of those who have remained loyal to the Egyptian Government, and he will take every step which is likely to secure that object.

MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT

asked whether Lord Wolseley had been authorized to offer any ransom for those unfortunate prisoners who, according to his information, were now in great suffering?

LORD EDMOND EITZMAURICE

Lord Wolseley has received full powers to take whatever steps he considers desirable.