ملف ٤٧٢٢\١٩١٨ الجزء ١ "بلاد الرافدين: إدارة السياسة والوضع" [و‎‎٦‎٥] (٦٨٧/١٣٨)

nasiriyah.
From—The Notables of Nasiriyah (Muntafik Division).
T° Lt-Col. A. T. Wilson, C.M.G., C.I.E., D.S.O., 0%. Civil Cornmis-
sioner m Iraq, dated 24th Rabi‘-Awwal, 1337 (28-12-18)
Sir,
our own views on the future nf +1,1 ‘T^o i -^utish Government wanted
the following tCe que^ons:- q ’ reqmred fr0m ^ answers to
'' Is 7 1 | P 0SS] ble to detach the Mosul Vilayet from the ‘Irao ?
ft^ ^ ke an Ara b Amir under the British Government ?
(in) Who would be that Amir? ” governmentr
So we respectfully beg to lay the answers before your Honour as under: —
S1 ?i Ce ou ^ b^bood we have been hearing that the ‘Iraq is com-
posed of these three Vilayets—Basrah, Baghdad, and Mosul, whmh as a
whole are called the Iraq Their capital has always been Baghdad ’ Anv
how Mosul is attached to Baghdad, as Baghdad is watered bv Mosul S
Mosul gets food from Baghdad, by the sea Hade J ’ and
fro m \ e ;“v’ila a y n er Ver ^ ‘ Ira<1 should inched
In the beginning qf Islam, when ^war was waged between ‘Ali and
Mu awiyah Syna and its dependencies were under the control of Mu‘awiyah
denfreason^ 01, ^ M ° SUl ’ W&S controlled b y Ali. This is a suffi-
2. Regarding the appointment of an Arab Amir for the ‘Iraq, we all
the undersigned, feel highly honoured at this act of humanity, and deeply
g ateful and indebted to you for this idea. But this does not coincide with
our interests nor with the interests of the country of ‘Iraq in neneral be-
cause \ve see not a single man in ‘Iraq free from partiality and passion
. V could have found a man for this post had civilisation been rooted
m us lor a long period. Alas! Ignorance is prevalent among us, and if a
man ot us were made Amir he would make his Amirate a toy in his hands
Ihe state of affairs would then resemble those of Albania, during the reinn
of Asad Pasha. I hose who know how matters stood then can realise the
disturbance and struggles which took place there. We, therefore do not
want an Amir because we are people of ‘Iraq, who are known as the most
faithless and hypocritical nation. If you are bent upon appointing an Arab
Amir, we would request you not to do it now, but after some years. When
you have handled and administered the ‘Iraq and Al-Jazirah, you will then
be able to decide whence an Amir should be selected, whether' from Mecca
Yemen, or Syria. It can be taken for granted that if the Amir were selected
from among the nobility of Al-Sa‘dun, the Sadat of Basrah would say that
they were more qualified for the post. Similarly, the people of Baghdad
would grumble at the appointment, and the same applies to the people of
Mosul and all the Arabs of Al-Jazirah. Ve should thus remain disputing
with each other until we died. So it is better for us that this question should
be left _aside for some time. We request the honour of Great Britain to
make other arrangements for the ‘Iraq. You are known for kindness to your
subjects, particularly to the Arabs, of whose present and past situation vou
are aware.
Our last request, which is the most important one, is that the affairs of
the Iraq may kindly be managed by His Honour, Sir Percy Cox, whom we
love Irom the bottom of our hearts, and from whom, during this war, we
have experienced nothing but justice, kindness, benevolence, and perfect
goodness, which, of course, are the essential requisites of good and sound
administration. We request the British Government to return him to us
and. to our brethren of ‘Iraq. We cannot adequately express our appre
ciation for his love and sympathy for the Arab Nation. We rely, in this
matter, upon the justice of the British Government.
. Having already fully dwelt upon the answer to the third question
m the second para, we have nothing more to add; but, in all these matters,
we trust in your.honour. May your grandeur endure.
[Signed by 271 tribal Shaikhs, Notables of the tonws and other persons of
importance^}