Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎196v] (393/802)

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he Qusaibi’s chef cTequipe or his partner. He is believed to intend to make
Jedda his base of operations for about three months, and at the end of September
was at Yanbu fishing, without success, in northern waters. Later he proposes to
try for pearls in the neighbourhood of Jizan.
218. The King has appointed, according to the L mm-al-Qura oi the
24th September, Seyyid Saleh Shata and Sheikh Khalid Abdul Walid-al-Qarqam
to be members of the permanent committee of the Council of Ministers.
r 219. The appointment of two officials, Mahsim hffendi Husain and Ibrahim
/ Lffendi Zare, as directors of the wireless stations at Riyadh and Mecca
respectively has also been announced. The new directors were amongst those
sent to London in 1930 by the Saudi Government to study wireless telegraphy.
220. The Umm-al-Qura reports the gift of an electric lighting plant for the
^ Haram, Mecca, by the Indian philanthropist, Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Sir Muhammad Muzammel
\ Ullah Khan.
221. (Reference paragraph 196 of last month’s report.) According to the
Umm-al-Qura of the 14th September, discussions between the Governments of
Iraq and Saudi Arabia on the subject of the overland pilgrim route between
Najaf and Medina, which had been suspended, have now been resumed. I he
journal adds that it can be said that “ agreement has been achieved,” and it is
expected that the road will be inspected during the months of October and
November. Meanwhile, there are strong rumours that a transport company has
been formed to conduct a motor service between Mecca and Medina and Koweit,
the persons mentioned as being interested being M. van de Poll, the Dutch Moslem,
and Muhammad Sadiq, the King’s chauffeur. These reports should be treated
with reserve. M. van de Poll, it is understood, was recently refused permission
to go to Riyadh at the time of the King’s return there.
222. The attitude of the Saudi Government towards the employment of
/ foreign chauffeurs (see paragraph 151 of Jedda report for July 1933) has recently
been relaxed. Evidence of this was the publication at the beginning of the month
of an official communique announcing that chauffeurs would henceforth be
engaged irrespective of nationality, but subject to a strict understanding that
men so employed would be subject to the orders of the Government to be sent
wherever the Government listed. This condition is probably due to the fact that
large numbers of Government-employed chauffeurs showed marked reluctance to
proceed with their vehicles to the front during the Saudi-Yemen war.
223. The Umm-al-Qura has published, in weekly instalments during the
month, new narcotic drugs regulations for the control and regulation of
the importation, exportation and use of dangerous drugs. In most countries the
new order would be virtuous and enlightened; it is perhaps a little wicked
to think the Saudis have adopted these measures partly as a stick with
which to belabour foreign dispensaries enjoying diplomatic immunity (see
paragraph 227 below).
II.—P rontier Questions and Foreign Relations in Arabia.
224. There have been no echoes here of the tiff between Iraq and
Saudi Arabia, recorded in paragraph 201 of last month’s report. Sheikh Yusuf
Yasin made no reference to the affair at his meeting with His Majesty’s
Charge d’Affaires on the 8th, and the Iraqi Charge d’Affaires, Seyyid Kamil-al-
Gilani, is still here. This young man, who is not so frequently seen by this
Legation as were some of his predecessors, appears to find the society of the
French consulate congenial.
225. L T nder instructions from His Majesty’s Government, His Majesty’s
Charge d’Affaires addressed the Saudi Minister for Foreign Affairs officially
on the 13th September to ascertain, on behalf of the Imperial and International
Communications Company, whether the Saudi Government would be prepared to
enter into detailed discussions with the company with a view to the establishment
of a wireless telegraph service between Bahrein and Saudi Arabia. It was
understood that the company would propose to work with the Saudi station at
Uqair. Amir Feysal lost no time in replying that his Government welcomed
the proposal, and would be ready to discuss it further after they had had the
opportunity of studying the question at greater length. They would suggest
that the station at A1 Hasa be used, instead of Uqair, which was not now in
working order.