I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has received any official information that the German Embassy in Constantinople has made overtures to the Porte, for the purchase or lease of an island or station in the Persian Gulf; whether he has been officially informed of any negotiations between the German Government and that of Persia for a similar purpose; and whether he is officially aware of any application by Germany for a concession for a railway from Baghdad to Khanakin, on the Persian frontier.

I have no official information which I can give to the hon. Member on the subject.