§ Mr. LANSBURYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any instructions have been issued to His Majesty's passport officials in Paris with regard to General Agha Petros; what steps he proposes to take to satisfy the claims he has received from the General for payment of certain expenditure incurred on behalf of Great Britain during the late War; and whether it is proposed to allow this General to come to this country in order that he may make good his claim for this financial expenditure?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONIn reply to the first and third parts of the question, the British Passport Control Officer in Paris was instructed on 9th October to grant General Agha Petros a visa for a short visit to this country, and the General is at present in England. As regards the second part of the question, a claim was received from General Agha Petros in 1921 for the repayment of certain sums alleged to have been expended by him in connection with an unsuccessful attempt to repatriate the Assyrians. As he produced no evidence that the sums in question had in fact been expended upon this object, and as he had no authority to spend any money whatever on behalf of the Government, His Majesty's Government, after full consideration, decided that the claim was inadmissible. I am not aware of any grounds for modifying that decision.