§ Mr. NEWBOLDasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what was the reason for the deportation from Mesopotamia within the last two weeks of certain sheiks and other prominent Moslem leaders; where these men have been deported to; and whether he is aware of the resentment that these proceedings have aroused in Persia, Iraq, and throughout the Middle East?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GORESheikh Mahdi el Khalisi, a prominent Shi'ah Divine, was deported from Iraq by the Iraq Government on the 25th June under the Immigration law. He was accompanied by his 1061W two sons and a nephew. The reason for the action taken was that the Sheikh was unlawuflly interfering with the local elections and had issued "fatwas" purporting to excommunicate those taking part in them. The Sheikh is under no restraint, and is, I understand, at present taking part in the pilgrimage to Mecca with his family. No one else has been deported, but nine Persian Ulema subsequently left Iraq of their own free will and returned to Persia. The incident has, I believe, created some stir in Persia where the facts were imperfectly understood, but I am not aware that it has caused resentment in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.