"ملف 8/16 تقارير استخباراتية بشأن البحرين" [و‎‎١‎٢‎٩] (٤٣٢/٢٥٧)

<* 5 "-
think, without seme truth) that the real object of Shaikh
Said’s visit to Bahrain was to purchase motor cars and spare
parts which he could not obtain anywhere else. It is true
that Shaikh Said has purchased motor cars and spare parts
in Bahrain 5 but he was able to do so only after the Political
Agent had engaged on his behalf in a hectic diplomatic duel
with Shaikh Salman, who had sent orders to his Adviser that
Shaikh Said must not be allowed to make any purchases in the
bazaar for export to Dubai» Shaikh Du'aij bin Hamad took
clever advantage of the situation; He pleased the Political
Agent by allowing his car to be sold to Shaikh Said 5 and he
pleased Shaikh Salman by extorting from Shaikh Said twice the
price which had been paid for the car when it was new;,
Shaikh Said of Dubai intends to leave Bahrain on
the 5th or 6 th June. The A1 Khalifah are too well-mannered
to permit signs of their hostility to Shaikh Said to appear
openly, but his visit will leave them with a good stock of
material for pleasantly malicious".anecdote.
When the atmosphere has grown less electric the
Political Agent proposes to remind Shaikh Salman that, in the
dispute between Shaikh Said bin Maktum and Shaikh^Mana, the
sympathies of Ibn Saud were wholly with Shaikh Said.
89. S mall pox and typhus .
(i) Dubai has now been declared free from small pox.
(ii) There is an unusually extensive outbreak of small
pox in Bahrain, but deaths have been comparatively few,
(iii) Three cases of typhus (one fatal) have been reported
from the California Arabian Standard Oil Company camp at
Dhahran.
90. Local Affairs .
(i) Reference para 76 (ii) of Intelligence Summary No.9
of 1942 in which it was reported that steps were being taken
by the Bahrain Government to restrict the activities of pros
titutes to certain specified quarters.
The prostitutes of Manama resent Government inter
ference with their trade, and have threatened that, if^the
restrictions recently enforced are not removed, they will
either (a) emigrate to Kuwait or (b) go on strike. The junior
members of the A1 Khalifah are greatly worried by the situation
which has now developed.
(ii) A play performed by the boys of the Manama Secondary
school raised Rs 2001, which has been presented to the Persian
Gulf Fighter Fund.
91.- Bahrain and Qatar .
Reference para 63 of Bahrain Intelligence Summary
No .8 of 1942 in which it was reported that the reason for the
Shaikh of Bahrain* s action in tightening up the restrictions
on the entry into Bahrain of subjects of the Shaikh of Qatar
might be to provide an opportunity for the re-opening of the
Zubara question.
It is now possible to confirm this conjecture. At
an interview with the Political Agent on May 24th K.H. the
Shaikh related at length the whole history of Zubara (as seen
through Bahrain eyes), and enumerated the advantages which
would accrue to the Shaikh of Qatar if friendly relations
between the two Sheikhdoms could be resumed. The Shaikh of
Bahrain is not prepared to give up his claim to sovereignty
over Zubara, and it is possible that the Shaikh of Qatar
/ will