§ 18. Mr. THURTLEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he has any official knowledge of concessions in respect of minerals and oil granted by the Government of Iraq in the province of Mosul; and, if so, will he state the nature of these concessions?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREA concession for the development of petroleum and kindred products in an area comprising the whole of Iraq, with the exception of the transferred territories which consist of certain small strips on the Persian frontier and the pre-war Vilayet of Basra, was granted by the Iraq Government to the Turkish Petroleum Company, Limited, on the 14th March, 1925. Apart from this, I am not aware that any concession of the nature indicated in the question has been granted in respect of the Mosul Vilayet.
Mr. THOMASCan the hon. Gentleman say if this particular concession is the cause of any trouble or embarrassment?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GORENone whatever.
§ Mr. T. WILLIAMSIs there information available as to how many British directors are on the board of this company and what is their financial interest in the company?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREInformation on this subject was given either by the President of the Board of Trade or the Prime Minister in response to a question about 10 days or a fortnight ago and I think the answer showed the percentage of French, Anglo-Persian and British interests.