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King Hussein Anxious Resume Anglo-arab Treaty Negotiations

March 28, 1924
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That King Hussein, the new Calph, is ready to negotiate an Anglo-Arab treaty, a matter which has been under consideration for some time, appears from a report in the London Post. The report states that Hussein has cabled to Premier MacDonald to send a responsible official to Hedjas to resume discussions on the treaty; or should the Premier prefer it, King Hussein is prepared to send his delegate to England.

The negotiations for an Anglo-Arab treaty have been pending since Hussein, in consideration of his service to the Allies, was promised an independent Arab country. The impossibility of one Arab state being apparent, the plan was for a Pan-Arabian Confederation to include the Hedjas of which Hussein is King, Transjordania, Hesopotamia and Palestine.

A treaty was prepared by Hussein’s representative in London, Najer Asil, prior to the Amman conference, and, ready for signature, it was sent to King Hussein at Amman. The conditions of it, however, were unsatisfactory to Hussein who declared that his representative had overstepped his authority in granting some of the concessions, particularly those favoring the Jewish National Home in Palestine. The treaty was then declared officially “lost” and the representative recalled. In the meantime Hussein has been proclaimed Caliph, on condition that he secure for the Arab countries the promised independence, and the conclusion of an Anglo-Arab treaty has become for him a matter of moment.

In circles close to the British Colonial Office, it is not believed that Premier MacDonald, in the face of the present situation, will give the matter early attention.

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