§ VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODONMy Lords, I understand that the noble Duke opposite may be prepared to give some information to us on the subject of the Government's policy in Iraq. I would ask him whether he is in a, position to give Your Lordships' House any information on that subject, and whether any decision has lately been come to.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)My Lords, by permission of the House I should like to make a statement of public interest relating to policy in Iraq. Your Lordships will remember that, the Cabinet have been discussing this matter for some time, and decisions have now been taken. Sir Percy Cox has accordingly been authorised by His Majesty's Government to make an announcement at Baghdad, the terms of which I propose to read to your Lordships. This announcement was drawn up in consultation with King Feisal and his Government, and has their cordial assent. It is being published at Baghdad to-day.
The announcement is as follows:
"It will be remembered that in the autumn of last year, after a lengthy exchange of views, it was decided between the Governments of His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty King Feisal that a Treaty of Alliance 1058 should be entered into between His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the King of Iraq. This Treaty, which was signed on the 10th October, 1922, and the term of which was to be twenty years (subject to periodical revision at the desire of either party) provided for the establishment of an independent Constitutional Government in Iraq, enjoying a certain measure of advice and assistance from Great Britain of the nature and extent indicated in the text of the Treaty itself and of subsidiary Agreements which were to be made thereunder.
"Since then the Iraq Government has made great strides along the path of independent and stable existence and has been able successfully to assume administrative responsibility, and both parties being equally anxious that the commitments and responsibilities of His Majesty's Government in respect of Iraq should be terminated as soon as possible, it is considered that the period of the Treaty in its present form can conveniently be shortened. In order to obviate the in convenience of introducing amendments into the body of a Treaty already signed, it has been decided to bring about the necessary modifications by means of a protocol which, like the Treaty itself, will be subject to ratification by the Constituent Assembly.
"Accordingly a protocol has now been signed by the parties in the following terms:—
"It is understood between the High Contracting Parties that, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 18, the present Treaty shall terminate upon Iraq becoming a member of the League of Nations and in any case not later than four years from the ratification of peace with Turkey. Nothing in this Protocol shall prevent a fresh agreement from being concluded with a view to regulate the subsequent relations between the High Contracting Parties; and negotiations for that object shall be entered into between them before the expiration of the above period."
It will be noticed that under this protocol the Treaty in its present form is to terminate on the entry of Iraq into the League of Nations or in four years, whichever may be earlier.
1059 The position of Iraq as regards the League is that when the Treaty has been ratified His Britannic Majesty will be bound under Article 6 to use his good offices to secure the admission of Iraq to membership of the League of Nations as soon as possible. His Majesty's Government will be in a position to take this step on the fulfilment of the two following essential conditions—namely, the delimitation of the frontiers of Iraq, and the establishment of a stable government in accordance with the Organic Law. There is every reason to hope that both these conditions will be fulfilled at no distant date.
The announcement which I have made has already been made in the House of Commons and in Baghdad, to-day. Naturally, I shall not avail myself of this occasion to raise any debate upon the subject, but I hope, with your Lordships' permission, that I may take this opportunity of expressing, on behalf of the Government, our thanks to Sir Percy Cox and his advisers for the satisfactory conclusion of that Treaty and the arrangements which I have mentioned. Sir Percy is now retiring, and I hope that the arrangements which he has concluded with myself will be a worthy termination of his long and distinguished career.
§ VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODONMy Lords, I shall not attempt to initiate any debate which, I imagine, would not be in accordance with the extent of the business before your Lordships' House this afternoon, and therefore I will not make any extended comment on the statement we have just heard. I should like, however, with your Lordships' permission, to say this. These commitments in Mesopotamia have to many of us, indeed, I think to the country at large, been a source of great anxiety for some time past. We felt that it was impossible to measure the dimensions they might assume and there seemed to be no end to them in point of time. The circumstances of our continued occupation of Mesopotamia immediately after the Armistice were unhappy. We had very great trouble with the Arabs, and I welcome especially in this announcement the statement that the arrangement now come to has, as I understand, the full consent and good will of the Arab Government itself in Mesopotamia.
1060 I have heard the statement of the noble Duke with a sense of great relief, now that there is a prospect that obligations, which, in the long run, I think, would not have been popular among the inhabitants of Mesopotamia itself, have a definite term fixed to them; and should the negotiations at Lausanne terminate equally happily, this arrangement with regard to Iraq and a peace with Turkey which we hope may come will really have done a good deal to clear the prospects in the Near East and to give to that part of the world a prospect of greater peace and tranquillity than it has had for a long time.