"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٥‎٦‎٢] (١٧٨٢/٧٠٥)

562
Progress of
the French
flag question,
1899 -1902.
1899.
1900.
In the ultimatum of February 1899 the Sultan had been advised by
the British Government to order his subjects to use a distinctive flag and
to explain to his people that the grant to them, after such order, of flags
or protection by the representative of a foreign power would be invalid
and would amount to an infringement of the independence of 'Oman.
The Sultan, chiefly on sentimental grounds, was indisposed, and in the
end refused, to make any alteration in the nondescript red flag of 'Oman ;
but he wrote on the 16th of February 1899 to the French flag-holders at
Sur, enjoining them to give up their flags ; and on the following day he
informed the French Vice-Consul at Masqat that he did not recognise
the right of the French to exercise jurisdiction over 'Omani subjects in
'Oman, that he regarded the action of the French in this respect as
contrary to the Declaration of 1863, and that in future he would exercise
jurisdiction over his subjects himself. Nothing of importance resulted
from these steps; and the proceedings in the case during the next four
years, though continuous and not devoid of incident, were inconclusive.
In October 1899 the French Government, acting upon incorrect
information, complained that the British representative at Masqat had,
besides calling in question the validity of the French flag, demanded of
the Sultan that he should enforce the disuse of the French flag by his
subjects and promised him the assistance of a British man-of-war. At
the end of the year various expedients for neutralising the effects of the
French flag system were under the consideration of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment and the Government of India.
In May 1900 the Sultan signified his willingness to write a letter to
the British Government, requesting them to undertake his case in a
discussion with the Government of the Republic; but the offer was
not accepted. In June 1900 the Sultan, who at this time had
no suitable vessel of his own, paid a visit to Sur in H.M.S.
a Sphinx." Captain Cox, the British Political Agent at Masqat, was
also on boaid ; but neither he nor the British naval officers took any
cognisance of the Sultan's doings on shore. The result of the Sultan's
nsit, in so far as it concerned the French flag case, was that on the
12th June the French flag-holders of Sur spontaneously presented the
Sultan with a wiitten agreement in which, after solemnly professing
allegiance, they i enounced from that day the benefits of French protection
., Un ei ^ 00 ^ ie turn the French flags and certificates in their possession
f, e e ~, ! eS ^ 0 rp ()ltlini ty to the authorities from whom they had received
a • 18 ■P a ^ ei re ^ ef l to no less than 45 vessels, and the only 'Omani
vesse ying the French flag not included in it was one which did not
e ong o ui } three of the certificates produced had been issued
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