Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [‎217r] (434/680)

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Maiesty that morning, our interests were identical with his own—it was of the
highest importance to the British Empire that his kingdom should remain strong
and independent and its integrity be unimpaired.
11. What, said Hafez Wahba, about a possible threat from Italy? I
Repeated what I had been authorised to say : namely, that it was unthinkable
nat Italy would break her agreement with us and risk war for the sake of
annexing a portion of territory which could be of little value to her. I added
that I had recently spent two years among the Italians in Italian East Africa,
and that my personal opinion was that Italy had her hands full and could not
afford to launch forth on new adventures. If this war was a tragedy to the rest
of the world it was a god-send to Italy, who could hope, if she remained neutral,
to repair some of the serious gaps made in her financial structure by her
adventures in Italian East Africa. Moreover, if Italy wished to keep her empire,
it was vitally necessary for her to have unimpeded access to the Red Sea for
the purpose of restocking herself not only in petrol and food-stuffs which could
perhaps be stored but in man-power which needed, owing to the climate, to be
constantly renewed. Hafez Wahba thought that this would interest the King
and help to allay his apprehensions. I hoped, though I refrained from say mg
so to Sheikh Hafez, that it might head the King off from the snag of his request
for a specific guarantee against aggression.
12. As reported in my telegrams Nos. 21, 22 and 23 I saw the King again
on the morning of the 4th February. 1 spoke first about the question of credit
in the terms of my conversation with Sheikh Hafez Wahba, reported in para
graphs 7, 8 and 9 above. The King talked for some time about the large sums
we had spent on King Hussein during the war of 1914—18 and of the part that
he, Ibn Saud, had played in the war. His share in the reward was not great,
but he had been happy to receive it as a present from a friend. He was a very
old friend, the Turks were new friends acquired for the needs of the moment.
Ibn Sand’s point is, I gathered from this conversation and from my talks with
Mr. de Gaury, that in time of war the potential enemy gets the money and
the friend whose loyalty and co-operation are assured gets an expression of
gratitude. He said that if he were to remain strong in his own country, as His
Majesty’s Government wished him to be, he must be generous in his distribution
of food and money to his tribes. As I knew, the revenues of his country were
insignificant and even in a good pilgrimage year barely met necessary expenditure.
However, as long as he felt that he could rely on His Majesty’s Government
to afford material assistance if he required it in future years he would like me
to put forward my suggestion about an unrestricted credit for £200,000 to be
repaid after the war. He would spend the money on the purchase of food-stuffs
and some perhaps on arms which His Majesty’s Government might perhaps
sanction his buying in the neutral market if they themselves could not supply
his requirements. I thanked him and said that whatever assistance it would be
found possible to give he must not regard the sum as he had appeared to do
yesterday as a measure of His Majesty’s Government’s appreciation of his friend
ship. The value of his friendship could not be reckoned in terms of sovereigns.
13. He then wished me to talk to him about the guarantee of non-aggression
for which he had asked. I replied that His Majesty’s Government trusted that
he would have confidence in them and would not press them for a specific
guarantee. I used the arguments with which your Lordship was good enough
to supply me and repeated much of what I had said to Hafez Wahba regarding
Italy’s position in the present struggle. The King appeared to be entirely
satisfied and Hafez Wahba, whom I saw after the interview, confirmed my
impression that he would not press for a specific guarantee.
14. I feel that Ibn Saud, by his rejection of Grobba, by his acceptance of a
general verbal assurance in lieu of a specific guarantee, ancl by his readiness to
accept a much smaller credit than he felt the safety of his position required, has
shown both loyalty and understanding and I sincerely trust that I may be
authorised to inform him that His Majesty’s Government have agreed to my
proposal for a £200,000 credit and a promise of further help if and when requirei
during the period of hostilities.
I have, &c.
F. H. W. STONEHEWER-BIRD.