'File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia' [‎23v] (46/96)

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In April and May 1941 he closely supported Rashid
Ali. In August he was interned in Fao and in
December transferred to Samarra. He continued,
nevertheless, to keep touch with his friends and
supporters, among whom Hassan Suhail, of the Beni
Tamim, was prominent.
Transferred to the internment camp at Amara in
the summer of 1942. He was released in 1944 and
lived in residence forcee in Mosul till April 1945,
when he was allowed to reside in Samarra. The
compulsory economy of his exile leaves him the
richest tribal leader in the Euphrates. His influence
is still probably greater than that of any other chief
of the Fatlah tribe.
21. Abdullah-al-Damluji
Formerly called Abdullah Said Effendi. Bom
1895. A native of Mosul. Studied medicine in
Constantinople and calls himself doctor, though it is
believed that he did not graduate. Seems to have
been serving in the Turkish army when Ibn Saud
occupied Hassa in 1913, and to have transferred his
allegiance to Ibn Saud. Soon rose to a position of
influence in Ibn Saud’s Court, and came to Bagdad
as his unofficial representative in 1921. Was Ibn
Saud’s Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1922 and
signed the Uqair Protocol. Went with the Amir
Feisal-al-Saud to London in 1926, and took part in
the negotiations leading to the conclusion of the
Treaty of Jedda in 1927. After this his influence
waned owing to the intrigues of Fuad Hamza and
Yusuf Yasin.
In August 1928 he represented the Court of Nejd,
the Hejaz and its dependencies at the Medina
Railway Conference at Haifa. The conference was a
failure, and when it ended, instead of returning to
the Hejaz, Abdullah Damluji came to Bagdad,
posting his resignation to Ibn Saud. Arrived Bagdad,
September 1928. Appointed Iraqi Consul-General,
Cairo, in 1930, recalled October 1930, and appointed
Minister for Foreign Affairs. This at first was
resented by Ibn Saud, and for a short time Damluji’s
presence at the head of the Iraqi Ministry for Foreign
Affairs seemed likely to embarras Nejdi and Iraqi
relations, but when Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. visited Jedda in April
1931 Ibn Saud stated that he no longer wished to
raise any objection to Damluji’s appointment. Was
left out of office when Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. reformed his
Cabinet in October 1931. Appointed Director-
General of Health, July 1932, and succeeded Safwat
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. as Court Chamberlain at the end of 1933.
Returned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in
Jamil-al-Madfai’s second Cabinet in February 1934;
resigned in July and was reappointed Director-
General of Health in September.
He was suspended in 1935 and tried for misappro
priation of public funds. He was acquitted and
reinstated in his post at the end of December, but
resigned a few months later.
For nearly two years he remained out of public
life, but in July 1937 he was appointed Master of
Ceremonies at the Palace in succession to Abbas
Mahdi,
He headed the Iraqi representatives at the funeral
of Ataturk in November 1938. Soon after Nuri-al-
Said became Prime Minister in December 1938 he
was removed from the Palace to an obscure appoint
ment in the Health Department, which was later
abolished.
Appointed Director-General of Social Affairs and
Health in November 1941.
Appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in February
1942.
Resigned in June 1942.
Has given up politics for business and is unlikely
to return. Speaks good English.
22. Abdullah Qassab
Sunni of Bagdad. Born 1900, the son of an Alim
Shaikh, Abbas Amin-al-Fatwa. Nephew of Abdul
Aziz Qassab, q.v. Educated in Bagdad, graduated
from the Law College in 1928 and entered the Civil
Service. Became Kaimakam of Samarra in 1936 and
later became Director of Tribal Affaire in the
Ministry of the Interior.
Appointed Mutessarif of Kerbala in October 1941
and was transferred to Diwaniyah a month later.
Did well as a Mutessarif and joined Nuri Said’s
Cabinet as Minister of Interior in October 1943.
Quiet and efficient with no marked political leanings.
Resigned with the whole Cabinet in December 1943
and was dropped from Nuri’s immediately following
Cabinet. Appointed Mutessarif of Mosul in March
1944.
A strong and capable administrator. He initiated
and worked hard at the Conferences (Der ez Zor,
June 1944, Bagdad, May 1945) to settle Shammar-
Ageidat disputes.
In June 1946 joined Arshad al Umari’s Cabinet
as Minister of the Interior, but resigned in August
owing to a difference with the Premier. He has
since been appointed Director-General of the Date
Monopoly. Awarded King’s Medal for service in
the cause of freedom 1946.
23. A hmad, Shaikh of Barzan
A chieftain of the Kurdish Barzan tribe. Head
quarters at Barzan at the foot of the Chia-i-Shirin.
Exercised powerful influence over the Barosh an^^^
Mazuri Bala areas to the north-west of Rowandi^V^^
Friendly relations were established with him in 1919,
but no administrative control was exercised in his
tribal area. In 1920 he was implicated in the murder
of two British officials. He and Faris Agha of Bera
Kapra were declared outlaws with a price on their
heads, and Barzan was destroyed by troops, but his
country was not occupied. In 1922 he welcomed
Turkish agents into Barosh and Mazuri Bala, and in
September 1922 his men made an unsuccessful
attack on Amadiyah. A month later Barzan was
again destroyed by the Royal Air Force co-operating
with Assyrian irregulars. In 1923, the Turks having
been driven from Rowanduz, Sheikh Ahmad turned
on their retreating columns and came into Aqra to
make peace with the Anglo-Iraqi authorities. His
outlawry was cancelled, and he was permitted to
continue in unmolested control of his tribal villages
and mountains. In the summer of 1931 he began a
private war with a neighbouring chieftain of
Baradost, Sheikh Rashid of Lolan. He was ever^^
where successful, drove Sheikh Rashid to flight in^^
Persia and set fire to his villages. Government inter-
vention became necessary to restore order. Iraqi
troops were concentrated early in 1932, and after
some sharp fighting, followed by intensive air action
by the Royal Air Force, Sheikh Ahmad was defeated
and driven across the Turkish border in June He
and his two brothers, Muhammad Sadiq and Mulla
Mustafa, were interned for a time in Turkey, but
the two latter contrived to find their way back into
their old haunts in the following winter. After
holding out in the mountains for some months they
surrendered and were pardoned in July 1933 and
allowed to return to their villages. A short time
afterwards the Turks surrendered Sheikh Ahmad to
the Iraqi Government on condition that his life
should be spared. For a little over a year he lived
in comfortable and honourable detention in Mosul,
but in November 1934 it was found that he was in
collusion with Khalil Khushawi, who was disturbing
the peace of the Barzan area, and he was thereupon
removed to Hillah.
Permitted to come to Bagdad in April 1935. A
short while later he went to live in Sulaimani. After
the escape of Mulla Mustafa from Sulaimani in the
autumn of 1943 Sheikh Ahmad was removed to
Hillah and remained there until a settlement was
made with Mulla Mustafa in January 1944. There
after he was permitted to return to Barzan. He is
now heavily overshadowed by Mulla Mustafa in local