File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎288r] (580/898)

When 1 arrived at the palace I was admitted immediately to the King, and such
a sight as met my eyes is not easily described. He was in such a state of nervous
collapse or funk that he could not control his lips to give the conventional greetings.
In older to give him time, I spoke of various little questions of an adnunistf'ative
nature pending between the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and the Foreign Ministry, and eventually he
started to talk of the conditions and to request further concessions, as he was sure
N the people would not be satisfied, and surely harm would come of it. It was at this
point that I requested that feadiK Be^y should be called, and, after a few moments 5
thought, he asked if about five others of his entourage might come in I politely
requested that he should see Sadik Bey first, and later the others if necessary. He
agreed, and when Sadik Bey was brought, he immediately fell on his knees and kissed
Ah’s feet. This reassured Ali, and, after Sadik Bey’s assurance that the conditions
Avere acceptable to the soldiers and that they would surrender their arms the King
thereupon named him commander-in-chief of the forces and became almost gay
laughing, and even joking, at the fact that he would surely be sea-sick when he left
on board His Majesty’s ship.
I left the palace at once and proceeded to Ragama to inform Sultan Abdul Aziz
of Ali’s acceptance, and also to put several other demands to him from Ali, the chief
one of which was regarding the return of his wife’s property in Taif and Mecca, and,
if possible, to increase the amount of £ 5,000 to £ 7 - 8 , 000 .
To both these Ibn Sand agreed and again greatly facilitated matters.
I returned to Jeddah immediately and called a meeting of my colleagues, and
told them briefly of exactly what had taken place and my suggestions as to my future
actions.
This was in order to keep them informed and to ensure their co-operation if
necessary, in view of India’s telegram of the 15th instant. During the whole of the
negotiations I kept them daily informed and discussed various points raised with
them.
They approved of all actions taken and had no suggestions to offer to improve
upon what was being done.
On the afternoon of the 19th instant I again saAV King Ali, avIio had signed and
issued his formal notice of withdrawal from the Hejaz, and sent an identical note
(Enclosure 8 ) to the foreign representatives in Jeddah.
It was on the morning of the 19th that I received an urgent telephone message
from Sadik Bey, who had assumed his duties as commander-in-chief, begging me to
go to the barracks to assure the officers and non-commissioned officers who AA^ere
gathered that this was not a further ruse on the part of the Hejaz Go\ 7 ernment to
deceive them. I at once proceeded, and produced the agreement, which most of them
had not seen, and Sadik read it over to them. This satisfied them, but they were still
unwilling to disarm as long as Ali remained on the throne.
It Avas in consequence of this that I informed King Ali of the actual state of
affairs and requested him to hand over to the Provisional GoA^ernment and embark
on H.M.S. “ Clematis ” to facilitate the carrying out of the clauses of his agreement
with Sultan Abdul Aziz.
He eventually agreed to embark next morning, the 20 th instant, at 9-30, and
this, in fact, was done. Immediately his departure became known, disarmament
commenced, and, with the exception of several hitches, none of which developed
seriously, was practically completed by the afternoon of the 21 st.
The most serious—or, at least, what might have been the most serious—trouble,
Avhich fortunately I was able to avert, was that the Palestinians and Syrians still
remaining in Jeddah, and before they became cognisant of the real state of affairs,
wrote to this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and the French consulate threatening to destroy the town unless
they received their full arrears. I have not seen the document sent to the French
consulate, but the one addressed to me contained some thirty signatures, of which
not more than eight were genuine. So I sent for five of them who Avere known to me
and requested an explanation of their action.
They expressed their sorrow, and stated that the document was Avritten before
they knew the true state of affairs, and begged leave to withdraw it, and promised to
afford Sadik Bey every assistance. This, in fact, they did.
Ali, as stated above, was embarked on H.M.S. ct Clematis ” on the morning of
the 20th and left Jeddah in H.M.S. £ ‘ Cornfkwer ” on the morning of the 22nd.
After paying a final visit to King Ali, I again proceeded to Ragama with the head of
the Provisional Government and the commander-in-chief, Sadik Bey, Avhere they
officially surrendered to the Sultan Abdul Aziz before his full divan, composed of his
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