"مسقط. تساؤل حول إمكانية إنشاء قاعدة بحرية لتستخدمها سفن بريطانيا في خور قوي أو في مكان آخر في أراضي مسقط يتوافق مع الاتفاقيات الدولية الحالية لحكومة بريطانيا". [و‎‎٣] (١٢/٥)

5
2^. Between 1913 and the present day French interest in Muscat has steadily
declined, and since the War it has been of negligible importance. In the course of
the Peace negotiations of 1919 the question of securing the abrogation of the
Commercial Treaty of 1844 and a free hand for Great Britain in Muscat was under
consideration, but does not appear to have been pursued. The French coal depot
in Muscat was relinquished in 1920; the number of Muscat dhows flying the
French flag had in that year fallen to seven, of which five only belonged to Miiscat
subjects, and it is improbable that any Muscatis are at the present time entitled
to fly the French flag. The Consulate has now been closed for many years, though
not abandoned, and active French interest in the State is confined to the rights
enjoyed by France under her Commercial Treaty of 1844 (which made it necessary
recently to secure French concurrence in certain modifications proposed in the
Muscat tariff) and to a visit to Muscat and its waters by a French sloop, which
usually takes place annually.
British Connection with Muscat, 1770 to 1934.
23. The British connection with Muscat dates from the early seventeenth century.
The first formal treaty between H.M. Government and Muscat, under which Muscat
undertook to co-operate with Great Britain against the French, was signed in 1798.
That treaty has, since the beginning of the nineteenth century, been supple
mented by a large number of engagements. Of these the most important are
the Treaty of Commerce of 1839, which has since been replaced by the Treaty
of Commerce of lcS91, and the Exclusive Agreement of 1891, to which reference
is made in paragraph 3 above. In addition, Muscat has contracted engagements with
H.M. Government in regard to the suppression of the slave trade, the arms traffic,
piracy, the grant of concessions for oil and coal, the making of air regulations;
and she has conceded exclusive jurisdiction over British subjects (including British
protected persons) and the subjects of Indian States to H.M. (lovernment.
24. It is not unfair to say that through much of this period the continued
existence of Muscat has been possible only because of the moral, financial and,
occasionally, the military or naval assistance lent her by the Government of India
and H.M. Government. But for these she might have succumbed to the Wahabis at
various periods between 1800 and 1870 ; she would have found difficulty in retaining
her control in Dhofar in 1896-97 ; and the ruling house might well have been
driven into the sea by the tribal rebellion of 1895 or by the fanatical Imam of
the hinterland and his Ibadhi followers between 1914 and 1922. Since 1873,
moreover, when Zanzibar ceased to make the annual payment due to Muscat
under the Canning Award to which reference is made in paragraph 8 above, the
payment, now known as the Zanzibar Subsidy, and amounting to Us. 86,400, has
been made annually by the Government of India. From 1913 to the present day
an annual subsidy of I lakh of rupees (the discontinuance of which has recently
been under consideration) has in addition been paid to successive Sultans by the
Government of India in recognition of their co-operation in the putting down of
the arms traffic.
25. The interest of H.M. Government in Muscat has thus throughout the period
under consideration been substantial and of vital practical importance to the
continued existence of Muscat as an independent State. It is in marked contrast
with the interest taken in Muscat by the French Government, which may not unfairly
be described as having been actuated largely by political motives which were not
directly related to the special interests of Muscat; and which in more recent times
appears to have been based on the desire of the French Government to assert itself
in a region in which British interests have long been predominant, or to use the
nuisance value of the Anglo-French Declaration of 1862 to secure concessions in
other areas of the international field from H.M. Government.
The Anglo-French Declaration of 1862 : its importance in Muscat Policy, and the
Interpretations which have been placed on it.
26. The leading case on the interpretation of the Declaration of 1862 is the
so-called Bunder Gisseh incident of 1899. But before dealing in greater detail
with the discussions to which that incident gave rise, it may be placed on record
that the existence of the Declaration has for many years bulked largely in British
policy in this area. The circumstances in which the Declaration was concluded
are described in paragraphs 8-9 above ; it will be seen that it was made without
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