15 14 initiatory sacrament of the Christian religion, he ordered all his tribesmen to kill pigs and eat their flesh. A neighbouring chieftain, Shaikh Rashid of the Baradost trive, outraged by this apostasy, constituted himself the defender of the true Faith and raised a tribal force with which to attack the in fidel Shaikh Ahmad. From July to the end of November inter mittent raiding and counter-raiding was carried on by both sides. Neither Shaikh Ahmad's recantation and return to Islam in Sep tember nor the visit of his brother Mulla Mustafa to Baghdad brought about any improvement in the situation, nor could the local authorities succeed in bringing representatives of both sides together to secure peace by arbitration. During the last week of November and the early days of December, Shaikh Ahmad's men A mixed force of about increased their attacks on the Baradostis. 500 rifles mostly of the Shirwan tribe looted and destroyed more than ten Baradosti villages and killed many of the inhabitants in the most brutal manner. Letters of warning to Shaikh Ahmad brought no result and the devastation wrought in the Baradost area by his men compelled the 'Iraqi Government to endeavour to re store order by force. It was difficult, however, to act. It was most undesirable that the 'Iraqi forces should become involved in a major operation in this difficult country before they had developed a de tailed plan of campaign and while the rigours of winter still pre vailed. In these circumstances, the 'Iraqi Government decided to raid Shaikh Ahmad's village in order to warn him that the Govern ment was not blind to his misconduct; there was also the chance A small that a successful raid might capture the Shaikh himself. column of 'Iraqi troops surrounded Barzan village at dawn on 9th December, but met with stubborn resistance when an entry into the village was attempted. Thereupon, the commander withdrew, suffering somewhat heavy casualties during his retirement, and leaving some prisoners and rifles in Shaikh Ahmad's hands. It is believed that a wounded 'Iraqi officer who was captured was killed by the tribesmien. At the request of the 'Iraqi Government Barzan was bombed the next day by the Royal Air Force dropped. Shaikh Ahmad after warning notices had been then released the prisoners and returned such of their rifles as he could recover from his men, protesting at the same time his obedience to the orders of the Government. He also withdrew most of his men from the Baradost area and concentrated them at Barzan, evidently fearing further attack. As the year closed, the 'Iraqi Government were still, without much hope of success, considering means to bring about a provisional settlement of the Barzan-Bara dost situation without further recourse to force, until the late spring skould provide better conditions for military movements. * 10.-The Minorities. The uneasiness amongst the religious and racial minorities which began with the publication of the Anglo-'Iraqi Treaty of 1930 and was stimulated and sustained by propagandists*, who en couraged the ignorant to have faith in their worst fears, continued to be manifest throughout the early months of the year 1931. The 'Iraqi Government and the High Com missioner gave this situation special attention and, it is believed, succeeded in allaying to a very large extent the apprehensions and misgivings of the minority communities with the exception of the Assyrians. The 'Iraqi Government also felt bound to take steps to terminate the work of the small group of persons who, by keeping alive a minority consciousness and by aiming at uniting all the minorities on a basis of common hostility to the present regime, were seriously obstructing the unification of the 'Iraqi State, which, with the approval of His Majesty's Government, was and is the aim towards which the policy of the 'Iraqi Government in these matters is directed. With the High Commissioner's approval, the 'Iraqi Government deported Mr. Cope on 18th April, and early in May further pre ventive action was taken against other persons who had been directly associated with Mr. Cope's activities. About this time, as the result of the routine opening in the Post Office of correspondence insufficiently addressed, and from other information received, the 'Iraqi Government formed the view that a dangerous movement, apparently directed by a certain Tawfiq Beg Wahbi, a Kurd, and former Mutasarrif of Sulaimani, was on foot to unite the religious and racial minorities in 'Iraq in a hostile combination against the existing regime. The 'Iraqi Government acquainted the High Commissioner with these circumstances and asked for his con currence in the issue of warrants for the arrest of Tawfiq Wahbi and certain other persons who appeared to be implicated in this intrigue, in order that a search might be made of their homes with a view to ascertaining whether there were in fact adequate grounds to justify the Government's apprehension that there existed a wide spread conspiracy directed against the safety and unity of the State. To this the High Commissioner agreed and action was taken by the police accordingly. In all, fifteen persons were arrested in Mosul and Baghdad, including Tawfiq Wahbi. Two of these were released on the day of arrest, eleven were released on bail within ten days from the date of their respective arrests and the remaining two, Tawfiq Wahbi and another, were detained until 30th May, when all were released unconditionally. During the period of the deten tion of these persons, the police, on the authority of the investigating * As a result of punitive operations undertaken by the 'Iraqi Army and Police, with the co-operation of the Royal Air Force, in the spring and early summer of 1932 Shaikh Ahmad finally surrendered to a Turkish detachment stationed on the border on 22nd June, 1932. * See Report for 1930, page 29, and statement made by British Repre sentative at the 20th Meeting of the Permanent Mandates Commission, June, 1931.
