Coll 30/87(2) Part II 'Qatar: Oil Concession - P.C.L.'s Operations.' [‎197r] (396/603)

-u-
1940* ’ ich regard to the fashts being unknown
until 1929, Lorimer mentions that in 1878 **& fleet
of three Bahrain craft despatched by the Shaikh to
patrol towards the fasht-al~!;• eebal proceeded instead
to Has Mahan 1 *. This shows that the shoal has been
immaxto known to Bahrain for over SO years, purely
It must have been known to mariners for a thousand
years past*
As regards Qatar's claim my comments are;-
(x) that hanrain being an island owns no
fashts Is untrue*
(y) It is true that the fashts. are nearer to
;;atar and also, a point not stated by the dh&ikh
of ,atar, that they are on the Qatar side of the
deep water channel between Bahrain and Qatar, but
in this region where the territorial water limits
cannot apply in the accepted. British sense the
points do not carry weight. The shaikh of t >&tar
did not claim the shoal, cf. P.Z*1227/40 dated th e
12 th, of la rch * 1940..* Indeed 'Ehe , a tar s ta tement
does not lay great stress on ownership, but suggests
that the fashts be allocated to ,& tar to satisfy the
demands of justice, not because Qatar actually owns
them.
(s) It should be remembered that the Al Than!
rose from being tribal headmen until with the
assistance of the funks they eventually established
themselves as the chief power on the eastern shores
of the t atar peninsula, particularly at Bide and loha.
By the time of the departure of the Turks and the
maxing of the Treaty of 1916 they were recognised as
oheikhs of _,atar. They continued to extend their
influence and on the western shores they encountered
the Al Khalifa and the tribes and inhabitants who
still paid allegiance to that family. They expelled
the Al Khalifa from the dubarah area on the west
coast of the peninsula in 1937. /ashts and partially
submerged shoals some wa f the western shores did
not enter into their scheme of things - that is
excluding ilawar and its adjacent islands to wfiich
they still lay claim.
31. "y view then, based on the claims submitted and
taking into account local opinion, is that the fashts
Keebal and jaradeh should be considered as Bahrain terri
tory, but see paragraph 29 (b) above.
32. fhe ownership of the shoal and Us delimiting line
having been discussed the-yatar-Bahraln dividing line must
be continued, cf. paragraph 22. x think It is desirable
from the shipping and the-Admiralty aspects that the deep
.water channel should be in the kjosix i ain Area and under
control of authorities at Bahrain* It would be correct
therefore to draw the line from the horth Sitra Light Buoy
to the Bahrain l ight vmsel (a convenient fixed point) and
onwards in the same north-easterly direction until it
terminates at the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Median Line.
33. ith reference to the acceptance of ny proposed
line by the shaikhs, the Shaikh of Bahrain would agr
ree
Jw* ‘ i
/to the....