ملف ١٩٢٤/١٧٠٧ "الجزيره العربية - تقارير عن الوضع في جدة. (١٩٢٤-١٩٣٠)" [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎١] (٨٩٨/٢٤٧)

the considerations which led him to agree to the existing frontier and accepts His
Majesty’s Government's offer provided the arbitrators are chosen by Iraq and Nejd
equally His Majesty’s Government remaining neutral; that they are persons with
adequate knowledge of Arab conditions and anxious for the present and future
independence of Nejd and Iraq ; that they return to the consideration of the existur
frontiers - that His Maiesty’s Government should be responsible for the execution ij
Iraq of the decision reached; and that after the decision consideration should be
given to avoid harm falling on any party as a consequence of the arbitration. The
King has been asked to explain some of these proposals
6 . During the month Transjordan lost still more the strong position m which
they had been placed vis-a-vis Nejd by heavy losses sustained in the Rualla raid last
spring Sheikh Fuad Hamza never tires of telling me that the King exercises a much
"stricter control over his tribes than the Government of Transjordan over theirs.
The accumulating balance of protests against Transjordan supports this contention,
f 0 r most certainly in the collection of details of raids the Hejaz organisation is very
efficient, while the Transjordan case still awaits full presentation. Moreover, no
reply has yet been received to the proposed joint action against Auda-el-Afna.
7. Ibn Baud has, not unexpectedly, jumped on a remark of the Emir Abdulla,
that in the heavy list of Hejaz complaints several of the raids were mere minor
robberies. He has also returned to the question of the crossing of the frontier by
aeroplanes, to say that if by marking more clearly the track which is followed on
flights between Egypt and Iraq it is intended to delimit the Transjordan frontier,
which has hitherto only existed on maps, he wishes to have an opportunity to give
the matter his consideration.
8 . The Transjordan Government have replied to the notification of the establish
ment of Hejaz customs by expressing themselves prepared to consider proposals fora
transit trade through their territories with adequate safeguards for the Transjordan
revenue. They state their willingness to continue to exempt Nejd and Hejaz produce
from duty provided reciprocal treatment is agreed upon, otherwise all goods and
animals, except those caravans specifically covered by article 13 of the Hadda Agree
ment, will be considered as dutiable, and, if not brought to a customs post and
declared, will be treated as contraband. The Hejaz Government have been asked to
furnish a copy of their customs tariff.
9 . With regard to the proposed meeting of reconciliation at Ghor-es-Safi between
the Saidiyin and the Beni Atiya, referred to in paragraph 5 of last month’s report,
His Majesty states that he cannot consent to the presence of his subjects at negotia
tions, to be held under the sole presidency of the Governments of Palestine and
Transjordan, in a dispute of which he has not been informed, and which in any case
should be settled by the respective Governments concerned. He suggests that the
matter should be referred to him.
10 . The internal situation of the Hejaz is clearer if little brighter than that of
Nejd. Towards the end of November Taif was again the scene of violence. It is
said that, infuriated at seeing smoking in public, some of Ibn Humaid-bin-Bijad s
Ataiba from Ghut Ghut wrecked a large number of shops, and, finding the local
Kadi reluctant to sentence a delinquent, called him an unbeliever and killed him.
Whether this version is true or not, it is certain that there were considerable
disorders, which necessitated the presence of the Viceroy himself before they were
quietened. This is probably the incident on which the exaggerated rumours of revolt
have been based. But while the Hejaz may not be the field of dynamite that some
imagine, its condition is not reassuring. Security prevails and some modernisation
has been attempted so as to gild the pill for the pilgrim and to extort more money
from him, but the country serves the same purpose as in the days of King Hussein.
Every available penny has long since gone to Riyadh. Government bills are either
left unpaid or met in unwelcome rials. The account with the Eastern Telegraph
Company for the Port Sudan-Jeddah cable, after being months in arrears, has now,
after pressure, been met by drafts on the customs and a loan from Messrs Gellatlv,
Hankey and Co. Business circles state that money was more plentiful in th e
penurious days when Ibn Saud first entered Jeddah. There is no responsible
Government. The Emir is a worthless figurehead, and the Hejaz is completely m
the hands of Fuad Hamza and Abdulla" Suleiman. The latter, until recently a
penniless clerk, has assumed complete financial control, while Fuad is a former
briefless lawyer, whose conceit and ambition have led him to covet the post oi
Foreign Minister. To take an extract from contemporary journalism, he is one o
those persons who have “an itch for power and no capacity to acquire it by sane