Mr. MILNEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the petition presented by 50 religious leaders in Baghdad to King Feisul of Iraq urging him to secure that Mosul should remain as part of the territory of his kingdom; and whether the Government can make any statement regarding the position of the inquiry and the progress of the conference on this matter?
Mr. THOMASI have seen a newspaper statement to the effect that a number of notables at Mosul petitioned the King of Iraq in the sense indicated in the question. I have received no official report on the subject. The position regarding the Mosul negotiations, generally, is that Sir P. Cox has been appointed to represent His Majesty's Government at the forthcoming preliminary negotiations with the Turkish Government, which it is hoped will shortly be initiated at Constantinople.