§ MR. LYNCHI beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give the House any information as to the progress of the Ottoman railway from Syria to Mekka; whether a branch line is in process of construction from that railway to Akabah; and, if so, from what point; whether he has any official information showing that from 4,000 to 5,000 Turkish troops are concentrated at Medauara, about 100 miles south-east of Akabah; and whether instructions have been issued by the Turkish authorities that no British subject is to be employed in any capacity on the railway, German surveyors and officials being already so employed.
§ SIR EDWARD GREYWe understand that the line has been completed as far south as Medauara, and that the next section to Thabouk, 120 kilometres, is expected to be in working order in the course of this year. The branch from Medauara to Akabah has been surveyed, but the construction is believed to have been temporarily suspended. We have no official information as to the concen- 1162 tration of Turkish troops in the neigbourhood of Medauara. We are not aware that any instructions have been issued by the Turkish authorities in the sense suggested.