‘Koweit [Kuwait]. A report compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department’ [‎13] (27/66)

'3
He repeatedly asked that British troops might be sent for
his protection, and at times expressed himself as sceptical
as to whether the presence of British ships alone* could
secure the defence of his territory. In short, the situation at
the end of 1901 was one which could not be tolerated, or
permitted to continue.
On the 4th January 1902, a wire from the Foreign Office
stated that the Porte disavowed the measures taken by the officials
at Basrah, and that the British Ambassador at Constantinople
had informed the Forte that if the Turkish Government could
not control their own officials, the British Government might
find it impossible to acquiesce in the continuance of the agree
ment as to the maintenance of the status quo.
The further course of events during 1903, as far as may be
gathered from the fragmentary accounts which filter through from
the wilds of Arabia to the outer world, appear to have been as
follows.
In the early weeks of the new year, the legitimist pre
tender, so to call him, Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Feysul
al Saood, recovered Riadh, the capital of his forefathers, from
Ibn Rashid, who, it will be remembered, is the nephew of the
usurper. The latter is said to have collected a large force and
to have moved against Riadh in the autumn ; accounts of the
result of this campaign are contradictory, as usual, but the
most recent reports from reliable sources point to the fact that
Ibn Rashid was defeated with heavy loss.
Whether Mubarak actively took part in these operations,
and if so to what extent, does not appear altogether clear; but in
any case, if it be the fact that his old enemy, Ibn Rashid, has sus
tained another reverse, it cannot but have a satisfactory influence
with regard to the stability of Koweit
It would seem from information received during the course
of 1903 that the Turks, foiled in their attempt to obtain a
footing in Koweit, at the expense of Koweit's independence,
have been taking action at various points, apparently with a
view to extending their de facto claims over neighbouring
districts. Rumour says that Turkish troops have occupied
Safwan, Mumgassir, and the island of Bubiyan.f
• The following of His Majesty's ships were in Koweit bay at the time: —
Pomont, Sphinx, and Redbreast.
t It is believed that the Turkish garrisonj at these places a re 35, and 20
men infantry, at Safwan and Mumgassir, respectively, and a few Engineers at
Bubiyan.
A rather remarkable story appeared in the Novoe Vremya of 19th February
1903, to the effect that a scheme of defence for the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab
and Koweit Bay had been drawn up by a German officer and approved by the
Sultan. This scheme includes, it is said, the erection of forts on Bubiyan Island
on the mainland at the entrance to Khor Subiya, and on the promontories Ras
al Arz and Ras Asheirij. The cost of the armaments of these fortifications is, it
is said, to be borne by Germany.