'File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia' [‎29v] (58/96)

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propaganda which Mar Shimun persistently carried
on against Iraq.
While paying lip-service to the League of Nations
and always ready to petition that body on behalf of
the Assyrians, he has proved disloyal to its decisions
whenever they have conflicted with his personal
ambition. By preferring temporal power to spiritual
leadership, he has been the means of inflicting much
needless suffering on a deserving people. During the
year 1934 he was mostly in England, paying several
visits to Geneva when Assyrian affairs were under
discussion. He remained in Europe throughout 1935
and 1936, spending much time in London.
In 1939 he was granted British naturalisation and
went to live in Cyprus.
Since 1940 he has been living in the United States.
His 1946 Christmas message to his flock, though
innocous enough, roused the suspicions of the Iraqi
Government.
73. Maulud Mukhlis
Sunni. Born about 1875. A fine soldier, he
behaved with great gallantry with the Sharifian army
and was badly wounded. His exploits do not lose in
the telling. Served in Syria and was sent in 1920
to Dair, where the agreement between the British
Government of Occupation and the Arab Govern
ment was reached under his auspices in April. A hot
Nationalist, he continued to spread anti-British
propaganda among the tribes until he was recalled
by King Feisal in June. Remained in Syria after
the fall of the Arab Government and returned to
Bagdad in July 1921. He lost no time in joining the
extreme Nationalist group. There was no post to
offer him in the Iraq army, but he was given some
land near Tikrit and settled down to cultivate it, with
occasional visits to Bagdad and Mosul to take part in
Nationalist activities. In May 1923 he was appointed
Mutessarif of Karbala, to deal with the Ulema. He
is no administrator, but he kept things quiet at the
time of the exodus of the mujtahids. An impulsive
man, who allows his pan-Arab sentiment to rule his
actions. He was bitterly hostile to the Cabinet
formed by Hikmat Sulaiman in October 1937 after
Bakr Sidqi’s coup d’Etat and openly condemned the
murder of Jafar Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . In February 1937 an attempt
was made to assassinate him and three of Bakr
Sidqi’s aides-de-camp were suspected. Maulud then
went to live in Syria, but returned soon after Bakr
Sidqi's murder in August 1937. Has been a Senator
since 1925.
He was elected president of the Chamber in
December 1937.
Attended the Arab Parliamentary Conference on
Palestine arranged by Alubba Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in Cairo in the
summer of 1938.
Re-elected president of the Chamber November
1938 and again in June and November 1939. Was
not re-elected in November 1941.
In recent years his drunkenness has increased and
discredited him.
74. Muaffaq-al-Alousi
Born about 1894. Belongs to a learned family of
Bagdad. He is a graduate of the Sorbonne whence
he returned to Bagdad in 1926. Was appointed a
professor in the law school and afterwards in 1928
Director-General in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Two years later he quarrelled with the Minister,
Abdullah Damluji, and withdrew to Beirut. In 1931
he accompanied Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. to Mecca to negotiate
the Iraq-Nejd “ Bon-Voisinage ” Agreement. In
the autumn of 1932 he went again to Mecca, this
time to take up a post as judicial adviser to King
Abdul Azziz-al-Saud. He remained in Arabia for
about a year and then returned to Bagdad. In May
1934 he was appointed first secretary in the Iraqi
Legation in Tehran. Transferred to be consul at
Beirut in May 1935. Appointed consul-general at
Bombay December 1936. Dismissed from the
Foreign Service in November 1937.
Remained in Syria until January 1939 when he
returned to Iraq. Returned to the Foreign Service
in February 1939 and posted to Paris as charge
d’affaires. Transferred to be consul-general at
Damascus June 1939.
Transferred to Istanbul as consul-general in July
1941. Recalled in November. A heavy drinker, with
unsavoury habits, he is not a good consular officer
and is suspected of pro-Nazi sympathies.
He was dismissed in April 1943 for insubordination
and in the early summer was seeking official employ
ment in Saudi Arabia. In 1944 he was living in
Turkey on an allowance supplied to him by Ibn Saud.
75. Mudhdhafar Ahmed, O.B.E.
Born Hillah, 1899. Sunni Muslim. Married. His
wife (who appears in public) is of the Partow family
and a sister of the wives of Ibrahim Kemal and
Tahsin Askari, to which family, and to that of Nuri
al Said, he is related through his mother.
Educated in Bagdad he served in the Turkish
army as an officer. He was among the first direct
officer-appointments to the police after the forma
tion of the National Government having been
Gazetted Assistant Commandant on 10th December,
1921. He received his initial training under various
British officers and by the mid-1920s had established
a good reputation in the Diwaniyah Liwa. He
promoted commandant in 1932 and was one of’ a
group of officers sent for training in the Birmingham
City Police School. After completing this course he
returned to Bagdad and was appointed Principal of
the Inspectors’ Training School, which post he held
for some years. Thereafter he became Director,
Passport, Residence and Nationality Department,
Director, C.I.D., and held other posts on the head
quarters staff. After the 1941 rebellion, working
under the orders of Saiyid Ahmed Al Rawi, as
Director, C.I.D., he was most energetic in clearing
up the chaos remaining after the collapse of the
Rashid Aaly rdgime. He hunted out and deported
foreign Arab “ Nazis,” and was equally active in
regard to Iraqis of the same type. In September
1941 he was appointed Director-General of Civil
Defence which post he retained until appointed
Mutasarrif, Basrah, on 12th August, 1944. Here he
distinguished himself by his cordial co-operation
with the British forces, but he was equally popular
with all shades of Iraqi opinion and classes. Sir(i^
then he has served for a short while as Mutasarrir,
Mosul Liwa, and in October 1946 became Mutasarrif,
Bagdad Liwa.
Mudhaffar Ahmed tias matured slowly. In his
younger days he did not show outstanding promise,
although he always was looked upon as being steady
and reliable. Always keen on sport, he was a keen
“ soccer,” polo and tennis player and did much to
foster keenness for the first and third (polo had
always been played) in the police, and later in the
Royal Olympic Club, Bagdad. He has developed
into a sound steady public servant and in the normal
course of events, being still under fifty, should go
far in the service.
Awarded the O.B.E. for war services, 1946.
An attractive personality. He speaks excellent
English and some French, as does his agreeable
wife.
76. Muhammad Ali Mahmud
Sunni. Born 1895. A lawyer who has served in
many posts under the Ministry of Justice, including
that of Director-General of the Ministry, Director-
General of Tapu and judge of the Court of Appeal.
Elected to the Chamber as Deputy for Bagdad in
1935 and for Arbil in 1936. Has twice been elected
Vice-President of the Chamber and held the post of
chairman of the Finance Committee in 1937.
Appointed Minister of Finance in Hikmat Sulaiman’s