§ 8. Mr. MANDERasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give an undertaking that the Royal Air Force in Iraq, under the new treaty of alliance, will only be made use of to provide for the safety of British connections, and in no circumstances for demonstrations or actual operations in aid of the Iraq Government in internal affairs?
§ The PRIME MINISTERBritish forces are maintained in Iraq for no other purpose than those set out in Article 5 of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of Alliance of the 30th of June, 1930, namely, to assist in the protection of British communications and to facilitate the discharge of the obligations undertaken by this country under Article 4 of that Treaty His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have no obligations in regard to the maintenance of internal order in Iraq, the responsibility for which rests solely upon the Iraqi Government, as is expressly recognised in Article 5 of the Treaty. Were the Iraqi Government to ask at any time for assistance not contemplated by the Treaty of Alliance, the situation would have to be considered in the light of the various factors existing at the time.
§ 1 and 2. Lord APSLEYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) whether the principle laid down in the correspondence between Great Britain and the United States on the position of the latter country towards the Iraq mandate applies to all territories of which Great Britain holds the mandate of the League of Nations;
(2) whether the British Government proposes to publish the correspondence with the Government of the United States of America with regard to the 1111 future of Iraq after the termination of the mandate; and why the correspondence has been first published in America?
§ The PRIME MINISTERMy Noble Friend refers, no doubt, to certain correspondence, which took place some time prior to the entry of Iraq into the League of Nations, regarding a claim on the part of the United States Government to be consulted on certain questions relating to the termination of the mandatory régime in Iraq and of mandates in general. This correspondence was recently forwarded to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations for communication to the Permanent Mandates Commission as the appropriate organ of the League, and will in due course be published in the Official Journal of the League. In the circumstances His Majesty's Government do not think it necessary to publish it separately in this country, although they saw no reason to raise objection when the United States Government expressed a desire to publish it.
§ Mr. HERBERT WILLIAMSIs it not the case that no mandate was issued in reference to Iraq, and in these circumstances, is the position of Iraq the same as the other territories which are mandated?
§ The PRIME MINISTERMy hon. Friend must be under some misapprehension; in any event, I shall be obliged if he will put the question down.