'File 2/1 I PROPAGANDA (Absorption of Kuwait by Iraq)' [‎112r] (234/706)

By Air from Bahrain.
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& + KJ0 Barpeta.
3rd August 1935<
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Dear Colonel Dickson,
On departure from Basra I left a telegram with the
Mespers Clerk who came on board reporting my departure for
Muscat and I hope the same has been received by you.
After leaving Kuwait on the morning of the 23th July
I reached Basra safely at about 9 A.M. and took the mail train
for Kerbella the same evening* I visited the shrines in
Kerbella in the morning next day and proceeded by car to Nejef
in the evening* I passed the night in Nejef and visited
Koofa also. Next day morning I came back to Kerbella and after
a stay of 2 hours I travelled by car to Baghdad reaching the
latter place at 11 A.M. I utilized every minute that I had at
my disposal and went round Baghdad seeing almost all important
places. I left Baghdad on the 31 st and arrived Basra on the
1st. During my short stay in Iraq I am glad I saw many things
and I met many people. You will be interested to hear that it
is not only the high authority and officials who accuse Kuwait
of snuggling etc* but it appears to be a general belief
throughout Iraq* Almost everyone I met asked me many questions
about the smuggling which they believed to be going on from
Kuwait to Iraq on a large scale. They were probably given to
understand that almost av-ry imp thing imported into Iraq comes
through Kuwait only, as much as it ?/as possible for me to
say I explained the things to the enquirers and told them that
Kuwait was quite innocent in this affair as she took no part
nor took any shares in the profits made by smugglers. They
could blame their own people who found it a profitable busine
to bring things from outside Iraq. Kuwaitis were engaged in
a legitimate trade and they sold their things to those who
came to buy it. They also said that during the recent tribal
troubles Kuwait did not play a fair gtme and supplied arms
and amminitions to the rebels. I told them that it was a news
for me as I never heard of such things as arms and ammunition
to be available in Kuwait for the purpose • a “fY ere
was strict embargo on importation of arms into ^t State
and the Ruler showed his good regard icr ^ ll ®
Iraq by allowing none to take out any kind of arms from Kuwait.
It was very unkind of Iraqis to misjudge Kuwait in the
respect. Murid Husain, an Indian who has a ,,-NhpVa told
natural ized Iraqi and is now btationmaster ^ ^beUa toId
me that it was a general belief that ^erejms a hand^of^
British Government in the recent troir irnsrland and through
arms supplied to the tribesmen , c ^? ie . n 5 r tha t n | n i QSS they have
Kuwait only. He said that most tll ink that unless^tne^na^^
thexr own ^YNB^essen^of Ihe talks 1 With
several ^people 3 in'” Kerbe U a Nejef and Baghdad.
. of the Persian Consulate at
While passing in front y ^ ard ^ to
Baghdad I noticed that there was I found that people
see what was happening Persian nationality papers,
had come there to take out th adopted Iraqi nationality
I learnt that those Perslnas ^ ^ Persia were retum-
to escape from the Jaw enlistment in the
ing 4) to Yer si an natio^iM J on3cr i P tion law passed by the
Iraq defence force under the ^onsex .y
Iraq Governiuent recently*
y H • ;•
■ !