File E/8 I Ibn Sa‘ud [‎204v] (433/606)

4 While I have no wish to appear to run counter to the policy acc ¥ r ® d A ; I( ^
home of not adding to Turkey's diffiduties nor of running the
from the Empire, I cannot refrain from pointing out the danger oll^ g
Sa ud and the Shaikh of Katar entirely to their own devices, a policy wuch, it
eeems to me can only result^and at no distant data-in our bemg presented with
a fair accompli in the annexation of Katar.
5 From Katar to the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. is but a step and, however difficult it may
be to keep Bin Sa'ud out of Katar, it will be doubly difficult to turn him out of Katar
once he is there, and such an undertaking would undoubtedly embitter our relatio a
with him permanently and would, therefore, be greatly to be regretted.
6 The present turn of affairs in Europe, so favourable to the Slavs and so
destructive of German influence, to which the young Turk party have recently
been looking as their strongest support against the hostile elects w ^ y
imagine— not without reason—to threaten them, encourages to > 0 P® tl i at T ^
Sg Umon to Anglophile feelmg may be the next feat™ of pobcy
miffht therefore be possible, even at some risk of exciting larkisti suspicion, to
proceed quietly with our settled policy in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. of preserving, so far as
I humanly possible, the status quo and therefore the independence ofKatai.
this p^ it is of course needless to remark, no hostility to Turkey finds a place.
7. I therefore make bold to solicit the permission of Government to proceed
with the steps advocated in correspondence ending with my No. Cf.-52, dated 21st
Julv last, and also that the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain, may be directed d^creetly
to pursue the policy of keeping in touch with events in A1 Hasa and Bm Saud s
subordinates in that province. It is even worthy of consideration, 1 venture to
suggefct, whether a warning might not be addressed to the Amir imp ymg that
Government has seen with much concern that there were discussums m the family
of the late Shaikh Jasim bin Abdullah bm Thani; that the new ShaiKh, Abdullah,
the eldest son and lawful heir of the late Shaikh, had, in accordance with universal
—custom, succeeded to the Shaikhdom; that his maintenance m that position and
the independence of the Shaikh of Katar were objects of their solicitude and tnat
thev hoped that any malcontents of his family who were short-sighted enough not
to perceive that their true interests lay in the enhancement of the dignity and posi
tion of the head of their family, would receive no encouragement at the hands ot
the Amix or from his officials.
8. I hope that a letter on these lines would make the Amir pause and that such
a communication, combined with closer relations on our part with the Bin Tnam
family, would go far to prevent a break in the friendly relations with Bm Sa ud
which must, for some time—and we may hope permanently—form the cardinal
feature in our policy in that quarter of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
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G.M. PrcBS, Sittk.^-Ko. C 4S9 F. D.<—U-10-U.*-7—E.A,