BRITAIN AND IRAQ

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 178, 22 April 1924, Page 8

BRITAIN AND IRAQ

AGITATION AT BAGDAD AGAINST TREATY FURTHER CONCESSIONS AIMED AT By Telmbafh —Pr-fss Association. -COPYBIGHT. Bagdad, April 20. An agitation, largely conducted by lawyers, and accompanied by the wildest misrepresentations, has broken out against the acceptance of the treaty between Britain and Iraq (Mesopotamia), and it is possible that the Constituent Assembly will refuse to accept it without large modifications. Indeed. it is reported that only fourteen out of a hundred deputies can be depended ou to vote for the treaty. The agitators assert that Britain does not guarantee that th# Mosul Villayet will nob be surrendered to Turkey, or that Iraq’s other frontiers will bo defended. The treaty gives no financial assistance except for the maintenance of British forces in Iraq, while Iraq has to shoulder a large share of the Ottoman debt and the huge expense of the national army, which will mean early bankruptcy. King Feisul and the Ministers are doing their utmost to counteract the agitation, but the deputies believe that if the Assembly rejects the treaty Britain will make large concessions in order to retain her footing in Iraq.—Sydney “Sun” Cable-