ملف ١٩٢٤/١٧٠٧ "الجزيره العربية - تقارير عن الوضع في جدة. (١٩٢٤-١٩٣٠)" [و‎‎١‎٧‎٢] (٨٩٨/٣٤٨)

i™ 8 P° cument is the Pro P e rty of His Britannic Matestv’* Cnv^n.n.., i
EASTERN (Arabia) .
CONFIDENTIAL.
February 27, 1928.
I H €
Section 2.
IbU-
E 994/484/91]
No. 1.
Consul Stonehewer-Bird to Sir Austen Chamberlain.—(Received February 27.)
(No. 17.)
Sir, Jeddah, February 1, 1928.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith my report on the situation in the
Hejaz for the period the 1st to 31st January, 1928, inclusive.
2. Copies of this report are being sent to Egypt, Jerusalem (2), Jerusalem for
transmission to the Royal Air Force Officer Commanding in Palestine and Trans
jordan, Bagdad, Aden, Delhi, Beirut, Damascus, Khartum through Port Sudan,
Singapore, Lagos (2).
I have, &c.
F. H. W. STONEHEWER-BIRD.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Jeddah Report for the Period January 1 to SI, 1928.
NEJD-IRAQ relations have continued to furnish the subject-matter of leading
articles in the press. The breach of the Uqair protocol is still insisted on; Iraq is
accused, moreover, of having harboured Nejdi criminals convicted of raids on Iraq.
Yusuf-es-Sadun and Mohammed-el-Turki are cited as examples of Nejdi raiders
who took refuge in Iraq to escape just punishment by Ibn Saud.
2. In the matter of the frontier incidents, public opinion may be divided into
three camps : the pro-Saud element holds that Feisal-el-Dej^qisli acted in direct
opposition to Ibn Sand’s wishes and instructions. A small anti-Saud party believes
the raids to have been undertaken at the King’s instigation; this party argues
Ibn Baud’s policy has ever been to send out c 'unofficial ’ raiding parties, and to
take credit for the result or to disclaim responsibility, according to the exigencies
of the moment. The third view, which is current with a very small minority, is that
the events were engineered by His Majesty’s Government in their own interests
The arguments are far-fetched but ingenious. His Majesty s Government expecte
difficultv in persuading Iraq to ratify a treaty whereunder military contro or e
country remained in British hands. They therefore required pi oof that t e }
of Iraq depended on the presence of British forces; they caused a pos o e ui a
Busaiyah knowing that this would provoke an attack—to be repulsed by
3 His Majesty’s High Commissioner for Iraq has reported that a meeting was
to take place in the last week of this month between Ibn Saudmnd FeisaLel-Derweish
in the presence of the ulema of Nejd. The Ministry for oreign ^ ® 1ir inn
confirmation, but considers it natural that Feisal-el-Dei v eish s on e p
to answer for his actions before the assembled body of the u ema. -p T , nTri
4. A party of four of the leading Ikhwan recently arrived m Mecca from ^®i d '
Rumours had been current in Nejd of an intention on the part of !bn Saud to omld a
railway from Jeddah to Mecca and from Mecca to Medina. n >
rumours false, invited this party to visit Mecca. The new .'"t 1 . .
Mecca proved to have given rise to their suspicions The Emir f
the party to a point where the work is nearing completion and “P a '“ d
they saw was a motor road and not a track on which rai way
^ ia 5 d ’ The road is not making the hoped-for progress. The weight °f the steam-
roller is blamed for the present somewhat unsatis ac ory , ^ ^
genuineness of this excuse is largely discounted by the ac ^ “ There are two
are commercially interested in the import of a lighter yP e °. pootm ex-Turkish
admirable reasons for the poor surface of the new roa . t u el EL , a crood working
Minister for War, who is in charge of the work, has P r y & ^
[371 dd—2]
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