الملف E/8 I ابن سعود [و‎‎٧‎٨] (٦٠٦/١٦٨)

CONFIDENTIAL.
No. 23 (c «nfl.), dated Bushire, the 4th (received the 12th) January 1914.
Fr om -J. G. Lorimer , Esq., C .I .E., Officiating Political Resident in th e Persian Gulf,
^ G0Vernment of India ^ ^e Foreign and Political Depart-
Jrm £0IWard ' f01 tlle of the Government of India.
dated the 20411 December 1913. < l copy of the letter, marginally noted, which
at Bahrain in regard to a reauest nf Ptir, cf received from tlie Political Agent
certain arms and ammunition. a paSS autllorism g to procure
remark toadelniSgSi 1 !! of the t i me ' b , ut tlle letter amplifies the
January 1914, . ^ ^ letter No - 24 > dated the 4th
I would refer vou to notice of Bm Saud's relation to the arms trade
ter 701110 predecessor s letter No. ^669, dated the 26th May 1913
No. T.-806 (Confl.), dated Bahrain, the 20th December 1913.
From -major A. P. T revor, c .LE., Political Agent, Bahrain,
To—The Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire.
lethtZSStSKeifl C0 -™. 0f a at Ojairon tie
procure from Musket for ^ v.* ^ ^ 1Ve . m a P ass authorising him to
of which 1,000 should be Martini Setford* SioTSfa^til S:
h , J-J c ^ m f/ in a position to make any useful remarks on this point
think that Bm Saud s request shows that he wishes to co-operate with n^Tn
respect of the Arms Traffic, and (leaving aside the question of neutralitvl T -n u
respectfully suggest that it would be advisable to encourage Bin Saud to obtain his
arms in a legitimate manner. Otherwise, he will doubtless attempt to smui]!
? overland from M uska " if he can obtain any there, or he may get them
from Jibutil to some port on the Bed Sea and thence overland across Arabia.
4. Bin Saud stated, and Captain Shakespear confirmed the statement from
personal experience, that modern small bore magazine rifles are useless to Arabs
m the desert, as the sand speedily makes the mechanism useless. There is also •
the objection of the impossibility of re-charging the cartridges for such weapons
For these reasons Bin Saud requires Martinis for his men, and for the same reasons
the considerable number of magazine rifles recently captured from the Turks are
practically useless to him.
5. I may add that Bin Saud gave me most explicit assurances that the arma
were required solely for the use of his armed forces, and were not in any wav
tor trade purposes and would not be sold.
6. If the pass cannot be granted now, I venture to suggest that it might be
givan when the negotiations between Bin Saud and the Turkish Government are
completed, or are in a fair way to settlement.
C614FD
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