'ARBITRATION CONCERNING BURAIMI AND THE COMMON FRONTIER BETWEEN ABU DHABI AND SA'ŪDI ARABIA' [With maps] [‎10r] (24/541)

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(i) Turki bin Ataishan and his party shall withdraw from the Buraimi zone to undispu
interfere in any way in the internal affairs, administration or politics of any tribe and shall
take action only in the event of an outbreak or disorder provided that the leaders of the two
constituent parties agree;
(iii) the Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. Levies, other armed forces, and officials introduced into the other
disputed areas after August, 1952, shall be withdrawn from those areas, and local armed
groups shall be disbanded;
(iv) neither side shall introduce additional officials or forces into the Buraimi zone or
into the other disputed areas; both parties undertake to refrain from action which would
prejudice the holding of a just and impartial arbitration; it is understood that restrictions on
entry of additional officials shall not apply to Government officials engaged in the arbitration
or to persons asked by the arbitral tribunal to attend it; it is also agreed that the tribunal
shall have powers and jurisdiction to supervise the execution of this agreement and to
adjudicate on matters arising out of its application and to issue such orders and take such
action as it sees fit in this respect;
(v) for the purpose of oil operations only and without prejudice to the rights of the
parties to the frontier dispute, the region lying between the Saudi 1949 claim and the claim
put forward in 1952 on behalf of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi shall be divided in the following
manner:—
(a) in the area bounded on the west by longitude 51 degrees 35 minutes East, on the
south by latitude 23 degrees 15 minutes North, and on the east by a straight line
connecting the eastern termini of the Saudi 1949 line and the Abu Dhabi 1952
line, Petroleum Development ( Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ), Limited, and D’Arcy Exploration,
Limited, may conduct oil operations during the period of arbitration;
(b) in the area bounded on the east and west by the same lines as in sub-paragraph (a),
on the north by latitude 23 degrees 15 minutes North, and on the south by latitude
23 degrees 00 minutes North, no oil operations shall be permitted during the period
of arbitration;
(c) in the area west of longitude 51 degrees 35 minutes East and in the area bounded
on the north by latitude 23 degrees 00 minutes North and on the east by the same
line as in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), the Arabian-American Oil Company may
conduct oil operations during the period of arbitration.
It is understood that there shall be no oil operations in any case in the Buraimi zone during
the period of arbitration;
(vi) these conditions shall take effect from the date on which the arbitration agreement
comes into force and withdrawals referred to in conditions (i) and (iii) shall be completed
within one month from that date;
(vii) for the purpose of implementing the foregoing conditions, “ Buraimi zone ”
means the area comprised within a circle whose centre is in Buraimi village and whose
circumference passes through the point of junction of latitude 24 degrees 25 minutes North
and longitude 55 degrees 36 minutes East; “ disputed areas ” means the Buraimi zone and
all other land claimed by both Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi between the Saudi 1949 claim
and the claim put forward on behalf of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi at the Dammam Conference
in 1952.
If His Majesty’s Government also agree to these conditions I am to suggest that this
letter, together with Your Royal Highness’s reply to that effect, shall constitute an agreement
between our two Governments, which shall be binding on all the parties concerned.
(Translation)
Jiddah a \
29 Dhu ad-Qadah |>/c] <2) 1373.
July 30, 1954.
Your Excellency,
I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of Your Excellency’s letter of to-day’s date which
reads as follows:—
[As in No. 1]
In accordance with the suggestion in Your Excellency’s letter, His Majesty’s Government
considers that letter and this reply thereto to constitute an agreement between our two
Governments which shall be binding on all the parties concerned.
Accept, &c.
FAISAL.
. (1) The inconsistency of the spelling of Jiddah as Jedda occurs in the original. The correct translation is, however,
Jiddah.
(2) Dhu’l-Qa'dah