File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [‎281r] (574/586)

The latest information (November 8th) is that the Snrchi Chiefs have
on erect submission to P.O., Mosul.
INTERVENTION OE KING HUSAIN IN MESOPOTAMIAN POLITICS.
61. King Husain has telegraphed to the Prime Minister protesting against
the arrest of Thamir Beg al Sa‘dun whose service to us and to the Arab revolt
he praises. He fears that he himself may be blamed as the cause of the atrrest.
lhamir Beg is the elder brother of ‘Ajaimi. His bitter jealousy of the latter
brought him in on our side. He was in receipt of a subsidy from us. In the
early part of 1920 he began to put forward pretensions to the Amirate of the
Iraq. He tried to obtain support for his aspirations while affecting allegiance
to the British Government on the one hand and the Sharif on the other. Un
successful with the leading Shaikhs of the Muntafiq, he attempted to win over
the smaller fry by promising remissions of revenue and other privileges. His
activities endangered public order and on June 5th he was arrested and sent to
Basrah, where he was released on security. He is still there and is in receipt of
an allowance of Rs. 500 per mensem.
62. The Minister for Foreign Affairs at Mecca forwarded in September to
the British Agent at Jedda a petition from a Kurdish woman to King Husain
on behalf of her nephew, Shaikh, Mahmud of Sulaimani, who led the rebellion of
May, 1919, and is now a prisoner in India. The Minister asked for an enquiry
into the matter and his request was forwarded to Baghdad. The High Com
missioner decided that such meddlesome intervention by the Sheriff in the
domestic affairs of ‘Iraq needed to be discouraged, and decided not to send any
reply.
THE DISPUTE BETWEEN BIN SA‘UD AND THE SHAIKH OF
* KUWAIT.
63. The close of 1913 left Bin Sa'ud in possession of Hasa and Qatif, with
the Turks pressing hinpto come to an agreement with them regarding those pro
vinces, ancl he himself waiting for some sign from His Majesty’s Government
that they would assist him in obtaining a solution of the difficulty which would
be satisfactory to him and in accordance with their interests. In April of the
following year, however, having received reports of Turkish military prepara
tions and fearing active measures by them to coerce him, he ajgreed to meet a
Turkish commission in the neighbourhood of Kuwait for discussion, and a few
days before the meeting took place he was informed that His Majesty’s Govern
ment had no objection to direct negotiations between him and the Turks. No
agreement resulted, but he subsequently consented to a settlement. This led to
some coldness between Bin Sa‘ud and Mubarak, Shaikh of Kuwait. The major
ity of the terms of the agreement, whatever they may have been, were never
carried into effect, and on the outbreak of war with Turkey, Bin Sa'ud repu
diated any agreements existing between him and the Turks aind threw in his lot
against them.
64. In December, 1915, a treaty was signed between Bin Sa‘ud and His
Majesty’s Government, which was ratified the following July, and contained
the following clauses:
(I) His Majesty’s Government do acknowdedge and admit that Najd, al
Hasa, Qatif and Jubail and their dependencies and territories, which will he
discussed and determined hereafter, are the countries of Bin Sd‘ud.
(II) Bin Sa‘ud undertakes to refrain from aggression on or interference
with the territories of Kuwait, Bahrain, etc., and the limits of their territories
shall be hereafter determined.
The point to be remarked about both these clauses of the treaty, which are
the only two clauses dealing with territorial limits, is that no attempt was made
to define any boundaries, and the whole question of delimitation was lefl
expressly in abeyance.
65. From 1914 onwards a series -of incidents occurred which tended to em
bitter the relations between Bin Sa‘ud and the Shaikh of Kuwait. In 1915 and
1916 there was considerable feeling between the two rulers over the question of
the ‘Ajman tribe. They had carried out joint operations against the tribe who
had tendered tbeir submission. This Bin Sa‘ud, who had lost his brother Sa‘ad,
killed in the fighting, did not wish to accept, being desirous of exacting further
I'etiibution, but the Shaikh of Kuwait, the late Shaikh Mubarak, accepted their
submission, urged thereto by his son, the present Shaikh Salim.
In 1917 there was a further dispute between Bin Sa'ud and Shaikh Salim,
who had succeeded Shaikh Mubarak as Ruler of Kuwait on the latter’s death,
the point at issue being the suzerainty over the ‘Awazim and ‘Ajman tribes.
66. In February, .1919, the question of boundaries became acute owins- to
Shaikh Salim of fKuwait selecting a site for a Qasr at Balbul. Bin Sa'ud