establish a Belgian presence in the area and prevent Mahdist reentry. A serious assault on the post at Rejaf occurred in June 1898, when Mahdists forced their way through Free State defenses before being finally defeated near the town. The Emir who had commanded the Mahdist army at Rejaf, Arabi Dafalla, withdrew with what remained of his army northwest into Mahdist Sudan. He was ridiculed by his superiors for the defeat at Rejaf, and he later surrendered his army to Sultan Ali Dinar of Darfur after a failed attack on a French outpost in 1902. As for King Leopold II's original designs for turning the expedition into a campaign into Sudan, the mutiny of Baron Dhanis' column had severely reduced the expedition's fighting power and made such a campaign impossible. Instead, Leopold's conquest of the Lado Enclave pleased the British government, at least initially, which welcomed any aid in their ongoing war with Mahdist Sudan. But frequent raids outside of Lado territory by Belgian forces based in Rejaf caused alarm and suspicion among British and French officials wary of Leopold's imperial ambitions. In 1910, following the death of the Belgian king in December 1909, British authorities reclaimed the Lado Enclave as per the Anglo-Congolese treaty signed in 1894, and added the territory to Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. References Sources Battles of the Mahdist War 19th century in Africa African resistance to colonialism Wars involving Sudan Wars involving the states and peoples of Africa Congo Free State History of Central Africa Belgian colonisation in Africa Former Belgian colonies Former colonies in Africa Lado Enclave