مجموعة ٦/ ٩ "تقارير جدة يناير ١٩٣١ -" [و‎‎٤‎٩] (٨٠٢/٩٨)

5
fidentially a copy of that copy. The Imam was to send to Ibn Sand a copy direct,
but when the latest news was received from Riyadh it had not arrived. It is a
question whether the Imam can be held to have adhered to the treaty. ITe as
made many small changes in wording, and one or two major amendments,
amendment to article 1 (b) he tries to limit the consultations referred to m ic
^•Ipreamble to matters relating to the “ ties of the Islamic laith and ot the 1 ia
race.” As was expected, he has tried to evade any obligations under the Loyenant
and the Kellogg Pact and the Anglo-Iraq "treaty, but it is not certain that ms
efforts to achieve this end have been successful in all cases. Article 4 (c), which
defines certain acts which are not to be considered acts of aggression, has b eel J
struck out, but the effect of this may be to involve the Imam in more instead ot
fewer responsibilities. r t
222. The Saudi complaint (paragraph 413 of December 1936) that a hsriti^h
aeroplane crossed the Transjordan frontier near Haditha on the 22nd Novembei
has been disposed of by the Transjordan authorities. No British aeroplane new
at all on the 22nd November, which was a Sunday, and none crossed the frontier
between the 22nd November and the date of the complaint. 1 wo British
aeroplanes coming from the north landed at Hazim during that period, and it is
possible that the position of one of these was miscalculated. In transmitting the
reply His Majesty’s Legation reminded the Saudi Government that it is extremely
difficult for an observer on the ground to calculate the position of aircraft m the
air with reference to any given point on the ground. . , ,
223 During the conversations on the occasion of Mr. Rendel s visit (J ectfla
report for March), Ibn Saud showed himself particularly sensitive about the
Qatar frontier, and in general about the hemming-in process to which he alleged
himself to be subjected by His Majesty’s Government on the Persian Gull. It
seemed to His Majesty’s Legation that it would be better to leave the frontier
discussion open for the present, and. as the next step (to be taken in the winter), to
show some representative of Ibn Saud that Jabal Nakhsh is part ol Jabal
Dukhan, and that the Saudi picture of the country thereabouts, as recorded m a
Saudi note of the 3rd April, 1935, is quite wrong. His Majesty’s Government,
however, both on general grounds and because the Qatar Oil Company may wish
to prospect for oil in the disputed area shortly, consider that it may be necessary
to make a unilateral declaration to Ibn Saud on the subject, and the question how
this could be done with the least offence to Ibn Sand’s feelings is being considered.
The question of the southern boundary has been reconsidered by the Government
of Aden and the Colonial Office, and they have decided that the maximum
concession that could be made would be to withdraw the line proposed by His
Maiesty’s Government to the edge of the desert, which would mean abandoning
to Saudi Arabia a belt of desert about 20 miles wide and more than 300 miles long.
Any further concession, they point out, would introduce the influence of Ibn Snud
among the tribes who belong indisputably to the south, and in teriitoiy which is
never visited by Saudi tribes. i • p t i i
224. In connexion with recent legislation about the ownership ot land by
foreigners in Bahrein, the position of Bahreinis in Saudi Arabia in the matter
of the ownership of land is being examined. It is believed that few, if any,
Bahreinis resident in the Hejaz claim the benefit of their foreign nationality.
225. A certain Salih-al-Din-al-Bakri has published the second volume of a
Political History of the Hadhramaut. The Legation had not heard of this work
before.
III .—Relations with Powers outside Arabia.
226. To celebrate the Coronation of His Majesty King George VI, some
200 persons attended a reception at His Majesty’s Legation on the 12th May,
amon 0, them most of the Saudi notables of Jedda and Mecca. On the 14th May
His Royal Highness the Amir Feisal came to dinner at the Legation, with the
Minister of Fmance, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (Fuad Bey), and
other leading Saudi officials. In typical May weather the Coronation festivities
would have been damped by clammy heat, but a cool spell made us almost forget
that we were in Jedda. The Legation did its best to live up to the standard of
illumination and entertainment set at the Silver Jubilee. In paiticular, the
picnic and party were not forgotten, and over eighty British children repeated
the gambols and gorgings of 1935, whose memory had remained fresh in their
minds.