ABSTRACT
T HE story of the burning of the Bait Hatim came to me from two sources. 'Osman Beg, the Police Commandant, told me his version as he lay in a narrow hospital bed, his usually smiling round face pinched with pain and disappointment; and Saiyid , Ajil told his sitting in his reed hut, his long, nervous fingers plucking continually at his beard in his distress at the recollection of the tragic events of that night.
