مجموعة ١٧ / ١٠ (٤) "شؤون داخلية: الوضع السياسي؛ العلاقات مع الحكومة البريطانية" [و‎‎٢‎٨‎٨] (١٠٣١/٥٧٥)

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17. At my suggestion the Regent got into touch with those who might be
able to form a Government, but he found that the likely men were all faced with
difficulties which prevented them from undertaking this task. Ibrahim Kemal
was from the point of view of efficiency the best candidate, but he has never taken
any steps to court the confidence of the public, and he felt that he could not
undertake office without the co-operation of Nuri Said. There has been a feud
between the two for the last five years, during which they have not spoken to
one another, and it was therefore not surprising that Nuri Said should refuse an
invitation to serve as Minister of Defence. Ibrahim Kemal accordingly dropped
out of the running and there remained only a choice between Nuri Said and a
suppliant appeal to Jamil Madfai to remain in office. The Regent was rightly
disinclined to take the second of these two alternatives, and so Nuri Said was
brought hurriedly from Cairo (where he was the Iraqi Minister) to take part in
i the political manoeuvres.
18. He arrived on the 5th October and four days later the following Cabinet
was appointed :—
Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Defence : Nuri Said.
Minister of Interior and Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs : Salih
Jabr.
Minister of Finance : Ali Mumtaz.
Minister of Economics : Abdul Mahdi.
Minister of Justice : Sadiq Bassem.
Minister of Education : Tahain Ali.
Minister of Communications and Works : Amin Zaki.
Minister of Social Affairs : Jamal Baban.
19. The Cabinet contains three Shiahs, one of whom is the Minister of the
Interior. This is the first time that a Shiah has held this position. The Kurds
have two representatives, and the Prime Minister, by taking for himself the
portfolio of Defence, indicated his intention personally to accept responsibility
} for bringing about the necessary reform of the army.
20. Both the Regent and Nuri Said consulted me closely throughout the
negotiations which took place while the Cabinet was being changed and, before
taking office, Nuri gave me encouraging assurances about his policy. He under
took to co-operate fully in carrying out all our military plans in Iraq, to reorganise
the army and purge it of pro-nazism, to intern the chief anti-British agitators
: and to eliminate anti-British teaching from the schools.
21 . These points were reaffirmed in the Speech from the Throne at the
opening of Parliament on the 1 st November, and the Prime Minister has already
set his hand to the plough. The Chief of the General Staff has been removed
and replaced by a better man. Forty troublesome men have been sent to the
internment camp at Fao and a special committee has been set up in the Ministry
| of Education to review the history text-books in use in the schools. (These books
have in the past frequently contained matter intended to cultivate hatred of all
British institutions in the Middle East.) Further action on these lines may be
hoped for in the near future.
22. The Regent paid an official visit to Kerbela and Najaf between the
16th and 18th October. He was well received and the ulema of the Holy Shrines
are reported to have assured him of their full support for his policy of close
alliance and friendship with Great Britain. This visit, coupled with the
appointment of a Shiah Minister of the Interior, which I have mentioned above,
has caused some discontent among the Sunnis, who fear the loss of the
predominant position hitherto enjoyed by their sect. Those who are hostile to
British influence have been quick to allege that the Shiahs owe their improved
' political position to the British and to make this allegation an argument for
I supporting Rashid Ali and his Nazi friends. This line of propaganda has not yet
made much headway, but it needs to be watched.
23. Two royal visitors arrived in October : the Amir Zaid from Turkey, on
the 13th October, and the Amir Abdullah from Amman, on the 25th October.
The Amir Abdullah’s visit was attended by full ceremonial, both in Bagdad and
Basra, and the talks which His Highness had with a very large number of people
undoubtedly have done good. He was outspoken in his condemnation of the
Rashid Ali regime and in his belief in the advantages to the Arabs of friendship
[24—35] b 2