'File 8/62 Muscat State Affairs: Principal Shaikhs and Tribes of Oman' [‎102r] (203/296)

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102 . )
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hand if «• do this wo risk alien-U^g tho wlno has
boen a good friend to ua» for orer*
5* 1 consider that the first essential Is to oisouss
the situation with the 3ulttn pc fully snd frankly as
possible* We must first tell him that we cannot giro him
assistance It* his schemes for subjugating Oman together
with the reasons for our refusal* this will undoubtedly
be a great disappointment to him and may make subsequent
negotiations more difficult but we must be frame 'gith him*
The next step will be to explain tc him how urgently necessary
it is for us to search for oil in Oman and exploit any
deposits that my be found there* *c should tell him that
we believe it possible for us to do this by direct dealings
with the tribes anu that we cannot afford to wait for the
Xmma f s death whleh may not take place for some years* Ve
should then ask him whether he has any scheme to suggest
whereby we ean obtain what we want and at the same time
save his face*
6* hermitte has informed me that the first axpedition
which his Company wish to organise is planned to start
from Has al Khaimah and ^ork southwards thro‘>gh Barstml to
JDhtfik and Xbrl* It will then work down the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Howasinah
and from there turn northwards and explore both sides of
the main range* Last year a I*0*Party visited baraimi
end the Jebel Bafit end was tele to carry out its work
there without any serious interference vide paragraph 4 of
enclosure to India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Printed Iwtter Eo, i&rt. 3167/46,
dated the 9th Kay 1946* The Sultan was not asked to send
a representative although he claims pari of Haratai and a
representative of his was present when the Company carried
out explorations there in 193S* On that ocsablon it was
found that the representative had little or no influence
locally* Indications are, of* puragr&pu 3 above, that the
Company would encounter little difficulty in continuing
tneir explorations during the aoming cold weather as far
south as Ibri* To what extent they oould carry out the
rest oi their programme us stated by lermitte with or without
the Sultan 9 ! co-operation I am not at present in a position
to say* 1 cons idsr however that we must do all we can to
obtain the Sultan^ acquiescence in their programme and
that we must accept any reasonable proposal he makes to ensure
that his interests do not suffer* If he refuses to accord
his approval we shall have to decide whether we should
carry on without it* This will be a difficult decision
to make and on the whole I am inolined to think that at any
rate for the time being we should not allow the Company to
carry out their programme without the Sultan 9 s concurrence
but that we should go on pressing him to give it*
7* So far as I car see there is nothing in the
Agreement of 24th June 1937 made between the Company and
the Sultan to prevent the Company from approaching the
Oman tribes direct but *udh action would be against the spirit
of Article 12 of the Agreement* Further it would appear
that the Company would be bound to pay the Sultan the full
royalties etc* under Articles 6 end 11 of the Agreement and
that any paymnts made by them to the tribes would be in
addition to this*
8* If His Majesty’s Government approve the line of
action proposed in paragraph 6 I would suggest that the
/ Sultan