"ملف 25/4 معاهدة التحالف الأنجلو-عراقية، سنة ١٩٣٠" [و‎‎١‎٣] (٤٠/٢٥)

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rs
CICI/TP/1/ 50/A.
C ONFIDE NT IaI
PARLrJflENTARY and HiF3-5 ^E/TpAIGN for th. REVISION
of the A1IGL0- IRAQI TRE.fTY OF .ALLIANCE of 1930*
The first recent public reference to the need'for a
revision of the <,nglo-Iraqi Treat;/- appears to have been a report >
in the issue of ''ash-Sha ! b r for 1 8 th November 1944, of an
interview given to that paper by IIWUL Pasha al-HAIDARI lately
returned from the Iraqi legation in XONDONc The reporter asked
what was H*M,G 1 s reaction to MUSTAFA NAHKAS Pasha ! s proposal for
the amendment of the 4 *ngio-Egyptian treaty and v/hether D^V/UP
Pasha did not think liaq v/ould be right in her turn to demand the
revision of the Anglo-Iraqi treaty* DAWUD Pasha replied that he
thought any attempt to amend the existing Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
(which was being main- lined by both parties in letter and in
spirit) would be most inopportune c . It was ,: ash~Sha ! b M again
that on 21st January reported a suggestion by the extreme
Nationalist deputy MAHMUD RAMIZ in the Majlis that the treaty
should be revised. There the matter remained until on 22nd
March Sir KINAHAN CORNWALLIS conveyed to the Regent K.B.LMs oral
message which induced the phrase '"The policy of H.M.G. towards
Iraq ......... will continue to be guided by the letter and the
spirit of the treaty which has conferred such great benefits on
both parties' 1 . This evoked from : an„Nida ? ' a leading article on
the following day. The Iraqi public according to this journal,
had always been critical of the provisions of the present treaty
whioh in any case is agreed to have been only appropriate to a
particular phase (now concluded; in the development of draq.
King GEORGE T s message should encourage the Iraqi government to
initiate negotiations for revision* dsh-Sha'V’ returned to the
attack on 8th April, seizing the occasion of Sir HUGH
STONEHEWER-BIRD 1 s arrival to say that the new Ambassador was
expected to see that relations between Great Britain and Iraq
corresponded to the wishes and aspirations of the two nations
on a basis of equality. The paper added that the structure of
the post-war world made it essential that both sides agree
without delay to the amendment of the Treaty. This article was
rather roughly handlea by the censor c 1 Al-Iraq" had joined in
with an unimportant leader on the same subject on 5th April, and
a full scale press camraign looked imminent. In fact however
the subject dropped out of the headlines until 1st May when
"an-Nida” stressed the necessity for amending the Treaty and
reconsidering the military, commercial and financial agreements_
associated with it. On 5th May a fourth paper "al-'Alam al ! Arabi n
took up the question of Iraq's demands which_apparently included
the revision of certain political and economic agreements which
would secure to Iraq the right to large sums of money for the
benefit of her exchequer., In the following day the same paper
wrote a little less cryptically that with the end of hostilities
the 1 Iraqi people wished co air their views and that tneir first
desire was the full and absolute sovereignty of their country
in the political and economic spheres*
2. Soon after
the Treaty issue from
journalists developed
ation. The Financial
HAMDI al-PACHACHI, if
the formal ending of the European war
being the hobby of a few querulous
into a matter for parliamentary consider-
Affairs Committee asked the Prime Minister,
HcLHG. had been approached regarding
revision/-