§ 42. Mr. ORMSBY-GOREasked the Prime Minister whether the Aden Protectorate is now under the Foreign Office, the India Office, the Colonial Office, or the War Office; who is the principal re- 1739 presentative of the British Government in Aden and from whom he receives his instructions; whether inland trade between Yemen and Aden has now been restored; whether we are in complete possession of the whole of the Aden Protectorate; and whether the pre-War frontier is to be maintained?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThe supreme authority in the Aden Protectorate is the Resident and General Officer Commanding, who receives his instructions from the Foreign Office and War Office through Field Marshal Lord Allenby on political and military questions respectively. Until a final decision has been reached on the future administration of the Middle East, the India Office continue to exercise internal administrative control through the Government of India, under whom the Protectorate was before the War. Inland trade between Aden and the Yemen is liable to interruption owing to the hostile attitude of the Imam of Sanaa, who has on various occasions sent officials into certain outlying parts of the Protectorate which are not normally occupied by British troops. The Imam's encroachments are being resisted by the tribes within our frontier, and there is at present no necessity for further measures to be taken.
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREWill steps be taken as soon as possible to get into touch with the Imam Yahya, so as to ensure that this penetration shall not continue; and is it not a fact that he is most anxious to come to terms with the British Government?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI should like notice before giving a definite answer to that question, but my recollection is that we have made many efforts in that direction.