Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎59v] (119/802)

I Feisal-al-Saud, and now Philby (i.e., Ibn Sand) has come, and we don’t want
/ anyone else.” The force of this was diminished by another remark made by
/ Mr. Philby, who quoted Ibn Saud as saying that you could not do anything for
the Arabs because of the Arabs themselves and that he once received all sorts
of assurances from the Sheikh of Qatar, and was then shown by the British
assurances in exactly the same sense from the sheikh to the British Government.
III .—Relations with Powers outside Arabia.
124. His Majesty’s Minister was received by His Majesty King Abdul Aziz
on the 18th March, when he presented fresh credentials, in the name of His
Majesty King George VI.
125. In the course of their tour Mr. and Mrs. Bendel reached Uqair on the
6 th March. They made short stays at Hufuf and Riyadh, and reached Ashaira,
where they were met by Sir Reader Bullard and Mr. Eyres, on the 14th. After
a night spent in a mountain village where they had been overtaken by nightfall
while the tents pitched for their reception were still two hours away, and a
night at Taif in a charming villa built by an official of the Ministry of Finance
out of arrears of pay, they reached Jedda on the 17th March. The Saudi Govern
ment made the most generous if not the most efficient arrangements for their
journey. One night they slept in a regal tent so enormous that it proved too
much ior its transport and was never seen again, while the kitchen arrangements
were on such a scale that they either made the desert blossom like the Ritz or
else left the travellers, by the breakdown of the transport, to dine on biscuits and
water. In Jedda a programme of entertainment had been prepared which
seemed likely to give an undesirably official character to the visit. Mr. and Mrs.
Rendel were to be the King’s guests, and dinners were to be given by the King,
the Amir Feisal, and the Minister of Finance, Abdullah Sulaiman. The
authorities were persuaded to allow their guests to stay at His Majesty’s Legation
and to turn Sheikh Abdullah Sulaiman’s dinner into a tea-party, and although
the King came to the party its private character was emphasised by the presence
of Mrs. Rendel, for whom Ibn Saud made a very rare exception to his rule not
to receive European ladies. At his own dinner and at this tea-party the King
was in great form laughing at highly curious tales and animal habits, teasing
Sheikh Yusuf Yasin, who is something of a butt, for his alleged greed, and
pulling the leg of Mr. Philby for being able to live on nothing for long periods
when supplies are short and at other times eating all the food in sight.
126. Mr. RendeTs visit was by no means entirely occupied with feasting.
His Majesty’s Minister and he had four interviews with Ibn Saud of an average
length of about two hours. Ibn Saud always goes through the whole history of
his relations with His Majesty’s Government whenever he gets hold of a new
British Minister, and this time he had also a member of the staff of the Foreign
Office as a listener. Although Mr. Rendel’s visit was unofficial, and although
the more important statements he was able to make had already been made to
the Saudi Minister m London and by Sir Andrew Ryan to the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs here, to hear them in a voice that breathed from Downing Street
evidently gave them a quite different value. The interviews were of the most
fi iendly chai acter, and the King talked quite violently about his detestation
of the Italians and his suspicions of their intentions. No progress was made with
the question of the eastern frontier of Saudi Arabia, which Mr. Rendel had
studied on the spot with particular care. Some of the subjects discussed are
mentioned elsewhere in this report. The King spoke of a scheme of aviation
for which he wanted British assistance, and His Majesty’s Minister has since
been informed that they would also like help in securing favourable terms for
the establishment of a cartridge factory An East India Company trading post. at Riyadh and for the purchase of o-uns,
shells and machine-guns. The aviation scheme turns out to be rather ambitious!
The Saudi Government wish to begin with ten military aeroplanes complete
with workshops, &c., and Saudi pilots.
127. To add to the slight embarrassment caused by the rather too official
character given to Mr. Rendel’s visit by the Saudi Government, there appeared
at Jedda during the visit a retired officer of the Royal Air Force, Squadron-
Leader James, who was acting on an invitation from Sheikh Hafiz Wahba.
When it is added that Mr. Philby fresh back from his mysterious journey was