"ملف 8/16 تقارير استخباراتية بشأن البحرين" [و‎‎١‎٦‎١] (٤٣٢/٣٢١)

-4-
Information has been received from a source believed
to be reliable that in June the Shaikh of Qatar sent to Nejd,
in the charge of his servant Abdullah bin Gaanim al Hajiri,
twenty slaves as a gift for Ibn Saud. Five of the slaves were
women, young and unmarried, and fifteen were men. He also sent
two male slaves and two female slaves as a present to bin Jaluwi.
It is reported that these slaves had been for a considerable
time in Dohah before they made the journey to Nejd.
The chief slave brokers in Dohah are stated to be
Ershaid Nejdi and bin Athemin. It is probable that the slave
traffic has also the connivance, if not the active support,
of Shaikh Saleh al Mana, the Shaikh of Qatar’s secretary and
confidant.
^ In the first week of July, immediately after the
Political /gent’s visit to Qatar, the Shaikh of Qatar issued
a proclamation, copies of which were posted prominently in the
Dohah bazaars, forbidding the export of slaves from Qatar
territory. The mere fact that such a notice was issued appears
to confirm the belief that Dohah had become, or was becoming, a
recognised slave mart.
153. The Oil Companies .
(i) On the 21st July the Political Agent authorised the
transmission to Dhahran by radio telephone of an urgent message
giving the result of a blood test. The man whose blood-sample
had been sent to Bahrain for analysis was an employee of the
California Arabian Standard Oil Company who was lying seriously
ill in the hospital at Dhahran. This is the second occasion
since June 11th, when R/T communication was first established
between Bahrain and the mainland, that the service has proved
useful in emergency.
(ii) Reference para 136(1) of Intelligence Summary No.13
of 1942 in which it was reported that the California Arabian
Standard Oil Company hoped to obtain the use of a Pan American
Airways machine to transport discharged personnel to the U.S.A.
A Pan American Airways machine, duly authorised by the
U.S. Middle East Ferry Command, arrived at Bahrain on July 17th
and left the following day en route to Cairo carrying as
passengers 19 Califoi’nia Arabian Standard Oil Company and 4
Bahrain Petroleum dompany employees.
154. The Persian Gulf Fighter Fund .
In response to the appeal recently issued by the
Political Resident, the Shaikh of Dubai has given Rs 10,000/-
to this Fund, and the Shaikh of Sharjah Rs 3,000.
155. Meteorological .
Maximum temperature 108.2° om July 30th.
Minimum temperature 81.4° on July 28th.
Humidity exceeded 70% on 12 days and 80% on 7 days,
the maximum being 94% on July 26th.
156. Corrigendum .
In para 66 of Intelligence Summary No.8 of 1942 it
was erroneously stated that the last week of April exhibited
the Bahrain climate at its worst. Ttfhen those words were
written the Political Agent was happily unaware of what the
Bahrain climate at its worst was really like. Now he knows.
Sd. E.B.Wakefield.
Political Agent, Bahrain.