Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1933 THE POSITION OF IRAQ

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 18 August 1933, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1933 THE POSITION OF IRAQ

THE situation in Iraq calls for comment, because British interests in that country are of great importance. The greatest of those interests is the production of oil, of which there are large quantities known to exist in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, and to convey the great supplies of oil to tlie shores of the Mediterranean a bifurcated pipe-line," Hundreds of miles long, is being laid; its western termini to be at Beirut in Syria, aiid at Haifa in Palestine. Of course anything which is likely to delay the laying of this pipeline, or endanger it when it is laid, is of major importance to Great Britain, and to Iraq itself, since the Government has a substantial interest in the oil produced in the country. The production and transportation of this oil is of major importance to the King and Government of Iraq, which are, therefore, interested in the laying and maintenance of the pipe-line, re- | ferred to, and in the maintenance of ! peace and good government within the j country, since only under conditions of quietude can the oil industry flourish. ! However, just when the success of the oil enterprise is within sight, there has occurred in the vicinity of Mosul an incident which may lead to considerable trouble in Iraq. North of Mosul there has existed a settlement of Assyrians, who are refugees, or the descendants of refugees, who fled from their own country before the kingdom of Iraq had become the important political factor j which it is to-day. The Kurds, mentioned in the cAbiSgrams, are a nomadic, or semi-nomadic , race of people which inhabits an extensive area, comprising part of western Persia, part of eastern Turkey, and part of northern Iraq. They are a fierce and turbulent race, largely predatory, and the shocking incident, which lials occurred near Mosul, is but the counterpart of many Kurdish raids ancl massacres in the past. The parts played by the Iraq troops and the Assyrians themselves are somewhat obscure, at the time when this is written, but It is quite clear that King Feisal’s Government will require to act quickly and firmly, if the situation in the territory round Mosul is to be prevented from becoming very serious The reference in yesterday’s news to the anxiety felt as to the effect which these happenings may have upon the conduct of the Assyrian levies who are guarding British aerodromes in Iraq, presumably refers to aerodromes belonging to the air-service between England and India, as it is understood that the Iraq Government possesses an air force of its own, trained by British Air Force units, which have

recently been withdrawn. These disturbances in the Mosul area ore the more to be regretted because it has been proposed to hold at Baghdad a Pan-Arab Conference, which will be convened by King Feisal, who, it is understood, has invited the Governments ! of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Transjordania, and the Hejaz to send delegates to discuss with the delegates of Iraq the situation of the,Arab peoples generally, and “the projected union of Iraq and Syria.” If, as seems possible, the League of Nations should take the Government of Iraq to task for the massacre and disturbances which have taken place :n the district of Mosul, it is likely that the projected Conference will be postponed, since a Government which has signally failed to keep good order within its own territory is hardly likely to be j

considered a suitable leader in a great Pan-Arab movement. King Feisal, who recently was in England, is probably in Iraq by now. He journeyed from Bagdad to Europe by aeroplane, and reached London on 20th June. After spending some time at Buckingham Palace as the guest of the King, he visited the fleet at Portsmouth; ho went to Scotland; hut as he was accompanied on his visit to Great Britain by his Ministers of Finance and Economics, it is evident that King Feisal’s presence in England was for business rather than for pleasure. Recently he set out on his return journey, and if he flew from the Continent to Baghdad, as seems probable, he should bo in his capital at the present lime, and ready to grapple with the extraordinary situation which has arisen in the northern part of his kingdom.