"ملف ٦/٤ II الحدود الكويتية-العراقية" [و‎‎٤‎٨] (٤٤٠/٩٥)

Confidential .
Political Agency,
B.o. Mo. C/323.
Ku«rait,
9th July, 1940.
fill you please refer to Sir Basil Newton’s letter
No. 360/10/40 of the 27th June, 1940, addressed to you
concerning the frontier hoard?
2. You will see that the Iraqis claim that we put the
hoard up too close to Safwan post. The spot we selected was
the one pointed out hy the Kuwaitis as the place, anl
certainly it appeared to he for the ground there was soft
and had been dug before. I tried to check tne position hy
counting the telegraph poles, hut owing to the haze ana dust
I found this difficult. Dickson is of the opinion that we
should have been at the tenth pole from Safwan which would
make the post not a mile from Safwan, and both he ana Scott
are of the opinion that the distance was less than a mile.
I was faced with difficulties on the ground and obviously
did not want to go to Safwan to measure, and more obviously
still I was not going to put the hoard farther away from
Safwan than it was before. All things considered I believe
we found the old place.
3. A report has been received tills morning that the
Iraqis have reinoved the hoard again, and done their best to
obliterate the mark. I think this is of no importance as
the Iraqi Government have now admitted that their idea of
the line of th© frontier at Safwan coincides with ours, and
that is all that is required.
4. Should you wish me to go out again to fix the
frontier at Safwan, I think it would he unwise to do so
except in conjunction with the Iraqi Government, as saould
this not be done an incident might occur ahich would he
The Bon’hle Ileut-Colonel O.G.drior, CIS.,
Political Besident in the Persian Gulf,
Bushire.
deplorable./