IOR/L/PS/12/2861

This file is a continuation of IOR/L/PS/12/2860. It contains correspondence and memoranda regarding relations between HM Government (HMG) and Iraq, and documents the reaction of the India Office and Foreign Office to political developments within Iraq. The papers primarily consist of despatches sent by HM Ambassador to Iraq to the Foreign Secretary, regarding a series of political crises and changes of Government and cabinet, including elections, resignations, assassinations, a coup d'état, and other political actions taken by the army. The file also contains information regarding the following: the release of political prisoners; tensions between the Arab, Kurdish and Jewish populations in Iraq; the movements and activities of Fawzi al-Qawuqji; arrangements between HMG and the Iraqi Government for co-operation during the Czechoslovak crisis of 1938; the death of King Ghazi [Ghāzī bin Fayṣal al-Hāshimī], and appointment of Amir Abdul Illah as regent to the Crown Prince; the growth of militarism in Iraqi schools, and the extension of the school cadet movement.

The file contains the following items of interest:

• Review of the political situation in Iraq, submitted by HM Ambassador (Archibald Clark Kerr), ff 414-415.
• Details of an interview conducted between HM Chargé d'Affaires (Oswald Scott) and the Iraqi Prime Minister (Jamil al Madfai), on 23 August 1937, ff 378-380.
• Memorandum titled 'The Political Situation and the Army - June 1938', written by Cecil John Edmonds, a British Adviser to the Government of Iraq, ff 287-297.
• Excerpt text of a radio broadcast by the Iraqi Prime Minister (Nuri al-Said Pasha) titled 'This Country's Problems. Needs of Modern Democracy. Political Parties and an Effective Opposition', broadcast on 4 January 1939, ff 271-273.
• Documents regarding requests from the Iraqi Government for credit totalling £3,250,000 for military needs and £2,000,000 for civil requirements, including descriptions of the Government's budgetary position, balance of payments status, and statements showing the military requirements, ff 108-167.
• A dispatch reporting on a conversation held between the Iraqi Chargé d'Affaires at Cairo (Saiyid Abdul Kader Gaylani) and the Oriental Secretary, regarding the future of the Iraqi Government, 16 June 1939, ff 151-161.

The volume includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 1-3).