'File 13/3 Arms Traffic' [‎181r] (361/608)

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No. 1070, dated Bushire, the 22 nd June (received 4 th July) 1910 (Confidential).
From-LiAUTENANT-CoLONEL P. Z. Cox, C.S.I., C.I.E., Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
^ f ^'^ e Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department.
In continuation of my letter* No. 1517, dated 5th June 1910, I have the
Koweit No. c.— 37, dated the 15th June 1910. honour to forward a copy of a further
— SemlNo ‘ 61 * communication from 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. ,
Koweit, in which he reports developments regarding the arms recently con
fiscated by Sheikh Mubarek from the Prench dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. “ Fateh-el-Khair
2. Sheikh Mubarek’s action in regard to the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. now said to hava
arrived at Koweit with arms will be reported in due course.
No C.—37, dated Koweifc, the 15th June 1910 (Confidential).
From— Captain W. H. I. Shakespear, 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. , Koweit,
To—The Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire.
With regard to recent correspondence concerning the arms traffic in
Koweit, I have the honour to invite a reference to the items relating to this
subject in my diary for this week.
2. As regards M. Elbaz’s (alias Ibrahim) visit to Koweit, the Sheikh
informed me that he had come to treat concerning the arms and ammunition
confiscated from the Erench sambuk. Elbaz first asked for their restitution,
which the Sheikh refused ; he then asked that, if the Sheikh desired to keep
them, he should be paid for them. This also the Sheikh refused, pointing out
that the arms and ammunition had been confiscated in virtue of his old
proclamation, of which and of his recent orders to his agents in Maskat
Elbaz must be as well aware as others. Elbaz then enquired if the Sheikh
would be willing to return the arms if he succeeded in inducing either of the
Political Agents at Maskat or Koweit or the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to ask the Sheikh to restore them, or if he preferred a
request officially through the Erench Consulate either direct to the Sheikh or
through the British authorities. The Sheikh informed me that he met all
these alternatives with the reply that the confiscation was in virtue of his owm
proclamation and carried out in his own town, and that, even if the British
officials asked him to restore the arms (which he considered most improbable),
he could not see his way to agreeing, for the matter was one which concerned
his own internal affairs in which no foreign Government had any right of
interference. I asked the Sheikh whether he thought there could be any
ulterior object in Elbaz making these propositions ; he said Jbe did not know,
hut that he had made it clear to him that the arms had been confiscated by
himself as an act of State and that he was not prepared to hand them over at
any outsider’s bidding.
3. I was somewhat surprised at the change to the very firm attitude the
Sheikh now assumes, and it is possible it may have been prompted by a desire
to make it clear to us that he intends to retain the confiscated arms for himself.
His attitude is correct enough according to the notification under which the
seizure was made, for though the English translation gives “ seized and confis
cated ” the original Arabic adds the words “ batarik beit al mal ”, which
undoubtedly means “ for the Sheikh’s own State treasury ”, and the Sheikh may
he under an apprehension that we may subsequently make a demand for the
arms ourselves.
The Sheikh informed me that, so far as Elbaz was concerned, he had given
him a direct answer that he should not surrender the arms either to him or to
his agent. The Sheikh added that he had taxed Elbaz in his agent’s presence
with spreading rumours that an exchange had been made in the arms confis
cated and that those shipped in the sambuk had really been magazine rifles.
The Sheikh assured me that he held a document from the Koweit Agent,
Abdulla Atiji, saying that the arms received from the sambuk were really
Gras carbines, that he showed this to Elbaz, and that Elbaz had admitted such
to be the case.
4. On the other hand, from an outside source, I hear that Elbaz is also
here for the purpose of collecting . some Rs. 13,000 to Rs. 15,000 from the
Sheikh, due on arms previously purchased by him from Goguyer’s firm.
6. The Sheikh left Koweit before the arrival of the large buggalow Large trading vessel.
reported in my diary as said to contain some 3,000 rifles, and it remains to be