'Volume II. MEMORANDA REGARDING OTHER EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. 1905.' [‎9v] (23/228)

4
February) that he understood that
Government regarded Koweit as an in ep j
dent State. He pointed out that if an o
declaration could he obtained from the p ? rsia
Government that they regarded Koweit as
independent, Sheikh Mubarak s *^ rec j n ^ ,
placing his foreign relations in the hands
of His Majesty’s Government, might subse
quently he communicated to the Persi
Government. He considered that such a com
munication would strengthen our claim that
Koweit Arabs he treated on the same lines as
Afghans {vide paragraph M of Memorandum
for December 1904).
12. An Irade appears to have been
issued on 1st December, ordering the Amir of
Mecca to contribute assistance to a vast
military force, which it was purposed to send
to destroy Sheikh Mubarak, as he is considered
the real head of the movement in which Ibn
Saud is the active worker. The Grand Vizier
has denied the fact, and it appears that the
expedition was recalled. It is stated that an
offer of pardon has been sent to Koweit, and
that communications on the subject have
passed between the Turkish local authorities
and Neid.
13. On the 11th Debruary, the Consul at
Basrah reported that the Wall of Basrah had
met Ibn Saud and Sheikh Mubarak on the 8th
February at a place within the Vilayet bound
ary, and on his return to Basrah the same day
sent a long telegram to the palace. The Wali
again met the same persons on the 13th
February at a place about 30 miles from
Koweit, and returned to Basrah on the 14th
idem. At the former meeting, it is stated
that the Wali proposed to Ibn Sand’s father
that Ottoman garrisons and civil officials
should be sent to Nejd. He agreed, but said
he could accept no interference on the part of
the Amir. Sheikh Mubarak was told that a
message sent by him should not have been
signed as from the Euler of Koweit, but he
would not give way on this point. No definite
result was attained at the meeting. In the
second meeting, Ibn Saud’s father and Sheikh
Mubarak asked for the Sultan’s pardon for'
the former in writing. On the 14th Febru
ary, the Wali sent letters to the Sheikh, and
on the 20th idem demanded an urgent replv
[vide paragraph 15 of the Memorandum for
January).
rp ^ A x late ^ information is to the
ettect that an active policy in Nejd is again
m the ascendant in the Council of the
feuJtan. Mobilisation has been ordered in the
Damascus Military District of twenty-four
battalions, of which four had, on the’ 20th
January, left for their destination. Ut “
15. A large Baghdad force is also beino
prepared, and left Nedjef on or about the