مجموعة ١٧/ ١٧ "تقارير سنوية لوزارة الخارجية، ١٩٣٢-١٩٣٨، ١٩٤٧. استعراض سنوي للأحداث ١٩٣٩-١٩٤٢. استعراض سياسي ١٩٤٣-١٩٤٤" [ظ‎‎١‎٠‎٠] (٤٨٣/٢٠٠)

26
in a confidential exchange of notes that this proviso referred only to a
possible claim by the Bagdad Railway Company in respect of the section of
the line built before the war between Bagdad and Samarra.
(4) That for twenty years the management of the railways should be
entrusted to a board appointed by the Iraqi Government and invested by
legislation with adequate powers.
(5) 1 hat, of the five members of this board, one, besides the general
manager, should be a British subject.
(6) That for twenty years the following positions should be filled by
British subjects :—
(a) General manager.
(b) Inspector-general of traffic.
(c) and (d) Chief engineer and his assistant.
(e) and(/) Chief mechanical engineer and his assistant.
(7) In an exchange of notes published at the same time as the main
agreement it was laid down—
(a) I hat a number of further posts should be occupied by British
subjects for periods of ten and five years; and
(b) That, if the Iraqi Government desired to engage further foreign
personnel, they should normally engage British subjects.
(8) In an exchange of confidential notes, the Iraqi Government agreed
that material of United Kingdom manufacture or production would be
purchased to meet all future requirements of the railway system, provided
that suitable material was forthcoming on reasonable conditions.
152. Finally, His Majesty’s Ambassador addressed a confidential note to
the Minister for Foreign Affairs informing him that, before ratifying the
agreement, His Majesty’s Government would have to satisfy themselves that the
powers attributed to the railway board by Iraqi legislature were adequate to
enable it effectively to control the railways. In point of fact, although the Iraqi
Government had, naturally enough, declined to say so in writing, the terms of
the legislation to be introduced into the Iraqi Parliament had been previously
agreed upon between the two Governments.
153. The agreement was at once submitted to the Iraqi Parliament, the
session having been prolonged for that purpose. Although its provisions were
attacked in some quarters, the Bill authorising the ratification of the agreement
and conferring the necessary powers upon the railway board had by the
14th April passed both Houses with large majorities and without amendment.
Ratifications were exchanged by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and His
Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires on the 9th July, when Mr. Bateman addressed a
note to Nun, m which he stated that His Majesty’s Government had seen the
powei s conferred by the Iraqi Parliament on the railway board, that they were
ratifying the agreement because they considered these powers adequate, and that
they would theiefore expect to be consulted if there was any question of alterin 0,
these powers during the period of twenty years. The Railwav Board was set
up by a decree of the Council of Ministers on the 14th July "and the sum of
£400,000 was paid to His Majesty’s Government on the 27th July. His Majesty’s
Charge d’Affaires was therefore authorised to inform the Minister for Foreign
Affairs that the ownership of the railway system had been transferred to the
Iraqi Government as from the latter date.
154. In November His Majesty’s Ambassador raised the matter of the
railway agreement with the new Prime Minister, who had taken a prominent
part in the attacks on Yasin at the time of its conclusion. Hikmat Sulaiman
explained that he had attacked his predecessor, not because of the terms of the
agreement, but because, when in opposition, Yasin had always criticised those
who tried to come to terms with His Majesty’s Government in similar circum
stances; and he assured His Majesty’s Ambassador that there need be no fear V
of the new Government trying to go back on the agreement.
United Kingdom and Indian Customs Duties on Iraqi Dates.
155. From the beginning of his tenure of office in 1935, Yasin had appealed
to His Majesty’s Ambassador to do all possible to secure the removal or reduction