Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎342r] (684/1144)

IK
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
r j. 7
EASTERN (Iraq).
"| t ) / / • 1 February 1, 1937.
CONFIDENTIAL.
|937 J Section 3.
[E 698/698/931 Co Py No *^20
Sir A. Clark Kerr to Mr. Eden.—(Received February 1.)
( No - 32 )
Si r) 'Bagdad, January 18, 1937.
IN the course of conversation some days ago Dr. Naji-al-Asil informed me
that the Egyptian Minister, Abdul Rahman Bey Azzam, had been speaking to
him about the possibility of an alliance between Iraq and Egypt. Ihe idea
underlying this proposal was that, as Egypt and Iraq were now both allies of
Great Britain, it was appropriate and desirable that they too should be allies.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs explained the project to me in terms similar
to those which Nuri-al-Said had used when he raised the matter with His
Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires last summer. You will remember that Mr. Bateman
reported his talk with Nuri in his despatch No. 430 of the 21st August, and that
it gave rise to some semi-official correspondence between your Department and
Cairo. .
2. Dr. Naji went on to say that he had instructed the Iraqi ( narge
d’Affaires at Cairo to sound the opinion of the Egyptian Government. I asked
Dr. Naji what sort of an alliance he had in mind, whether he was thinking of
the adherence of Egypt to the Iraqi-Saudi alliance, or of something quite separate
between Iraq and Egypt alone. He replied that he had not yet attempted to think
out in detail the scope of the proposed alliance, but it seemed to him that, having
regard to the special relations of the two countries with Great Britain, Iraq and
Egypt should be the only signatories.
3. A few days later I had an opportunity to discuss the matter with Abdul
Rahman Azzam. He surprised me by saying that it had been Nuri and not he
who had raised this question in the first instance and that in the present the
initiative had been taken by Dr. Naji. Last summer he himself had felt no
enthusiasm for the proposal because he had thought that Egypt, even after the
conclusion of the treaty with Great Britain, would be too preoccupied with her
internal affairs to embark on a policy of further foreign commitments. He had
therefore tried to put Nuri off by suggesting that it was best to defer any further
discussion of the matter until the treaty with Great Britain had been signed.
He had then gone off to Iran and had thought no more about it.
4. Abdul Rahman went on to say that Dr. Naji had expounded the same
ideas to him soon after his return to Bagdad. He still felt that nothing much
was to be gained by the proposal. To him it seemed to be enough that Egypt
and Iraq should each be the ally of Great Britain. So far as he could see the
present proposal might bring to Iraq a little prestige in Arabia, Syria and
Turkey, and even in Iran, to Great Britain perhaps a little more stability in her
system of alliances in the Middle East, but to Egypt he thought it would give
nothing.
5. He was surprised to hear from me that the Iraqi Charge d’Affaires at
Cairo had been instructed to take the matter up with the Egyptian Government,
for he had suggested to Dr. Naji that nothing should be done until he himself
went on leave of absence to Egypt. In any case he felt pretty sure that no move
would be made in Cairo until he arrived there.
6. I have known Abdul Rahman long enough and well enough to feel little
doubt that his version of the story is the correct one.
7. Since my talk with Abdul Rahman, I have had another opportunity to
speak to Dr. Naji. He told me that the Iraqi Charge d’Affaires at Cairo had
spoken about the proposed alliance to Mustapha Nahas Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who had seemed
to welcome the idea and had told him to talk it over with the Minister for Foreign
Affairs. Wassif Ghali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. too had given the proposal a favourable reception
[931 a—3]