§ 19. Mr. Zilliacusasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will propose at the Bagdad Pact Conference that the Economic Section of the Bagdad Pact should be expanded and modified into the constitution of a United Nations Economic Commission for the Middle East, including all Middle East countries and the Powers participating in the Middle East Summit Conference, and that international economic and technical co-operation and aid in the Middle East should be canalised through this body.
Commander NobleNo, Sir. The economic work of the Bagdad Pact has shown the benefits conferred by economic co-operation: and provision also exists under which membership of the Economic Committee of the Bagdad Pact may be extended to States which are not signatories of the Pact. Her Majesty's Government would welcome wider co-operation of this sort in the Middle East and hope, as I said on 22nd July, that in due course some scheme can be worked out in co-operation with the Middle East countries. But a scheme for promoting economic development in the Middle East cannot be imposed from outside. It requires the agreement of the countries concerned. The economic commission suggested by the hon. Member would require the agreement of all Middle East countries and, unfortunately, in present conditions and in the absence of a solution of the Palestine question, it is unlikely that this would be forthcoming.
§ Mr. ZilliacusWhile appreciating the spirit of the right hon. and gallant Gentleman's reply, may I ask whether it is not worth attempting, both at the Bagdad Pact Conference and at the Summit Conference, some way of basing economic co-operation in that area on the machinery of and obligations to the United Nations and finding out how to bring everybody into it? Is that not the kind of new start that should be made?
Commander NobleAs I said in the debate last week, earlier this year the Secretariat of the United Nations and the staff of the International Bank were studying certain technical aspects of these problems in the Middle East. It may well be that this sort of commission, which was suggested in our debate last week by the right hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Bevan), might be discussed there.
§ 20. Mr. Zilliacusasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will propose at the Bagdad Pact Conference that, in view of the defection of Iraq and the decision to discuss Middle East affairs with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at a United Nations Summit Conference, the Bagdad Pact as a military alliance should be wound up and replaced by regional agreements implementing the obligations of the United Nations Charter 932 in the Middle East and including the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Commander NobleNo, Sir. The present situation is now under discussion with our other allies of the Bagdad Pact, and with the United States Government. It would not be appropriate for me to say anything about those discussions at present.
§ Mr. ZilliacusAfter the departure of the only Arab member from the Bagdad Pact on the military side and after the recognition of the fact that the whole policy of trying to keep the Soviet Union out of the Middle East has failed and we must co-operate with the Soviet Union and discuss Middle Eastern affairs with the Soviet Union, does not the right hon. and gallant Gentleman realise that to go on with the Bagdad Pact as a military alliance is like flogging a dead horse after it has been agreed that it should be buried?
Commander NobleI fully realise that the hon. Member is an expert at flogging dead horses. Since, as the House knows, the Bagdad Pact came into being as a result of the valid fears of the regional members, faced with the Soviet policy of expansionism, it is hardly likely that a regional agreement on the lines proposed by the hon. Member would be acceptable to them.
§ 21. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, for the purpose of lowering tension in the Middle East, he will propose to the representatives of the Bagdad Pact Powers the publication of a joint statement respecting the right of self-determination of the Arab peoples and the Powers' intention not to interfere in their internal affairs.
Commander NobleNo, Sir. These points are already covered by obligations of members of the United Nations under the Charter, and represent the principles upon which the Bagdad Pact is based.
§ Mr. SwinglerSurely, in view of the Anglo-American intervention in the Middle East, which has occurred since that time, and in view of the threats and rumours that there might be other interventions in the Middle East—for example, the mobilisation of Turkish troops on the borders of Iraq—would it not be a good idea, for the purpose of trying to lower tension in the Middle East and to affirm 933 the preparedness of the Western Powers to withdraw their troops at the earliest possible date, to make clear their belief in the right of self-determination of the Arabs and non-interference in Arab affairs?
Commander NobleThe right hon. and gallant Gentleman seems to have forgotten that the American and British forces are there by invitation of the countries concerned.
§ Mr. S. SilvermanCan the right hon. and gallant Gentleman clear up one point of confusion and, perhaps, of importance? Can he say whether the military clauses of the Bagdad Pact now apply to Iraq, and will he explain, what I asked his colleague the other day without getting any answer, how it conies about that our forces are in Jordan, which is not a member of the Bagdad Pact, apparently to protect it against Iraq, which is a member of the Bagdad Pact? Where are we getting to in all this?
§ Mr. SwinglerWill the right hon. and gallant Gentleman say whether the Government believe in the two points made in the Question: self-determination for the Arab people and non-intervention in their internal affairs? Do the Government object to these points? Why will they not make their declaration?