'Files 61/12 and 61/16 (D 80) Treaty between Bin Saud and H. M. Govt' [‎123r] (252/408)

i63ch( cl, lu would not ihisc thy subject ov (question the occupation tind ftdmimstrfttion
of that district by the officers of His Majesty's Government.
In contunence with this declaration, Ibn Sa ud s iVlimsters gave us to under
stand that the King would be piepared to sign a written undertaking in such terms
Ms would satisfy us ol the genuineness of his attitude. ^Vithout committm*' 1 ourselves
to the acceptance of any instrument other than the Protocol, we asked to be shown
a text of the undertaking before we pronounced ourselves. After some delay, a draft
letter co\ci mg both this (Question and that dealt with m paragraph 7 of the present
Report was shown (but not delivered) to us, and of this letter we append a translation
(Annex 6). In so far as the question of the frontier is concerned, we took the
\ lew that a letter m those terms would have no more effective value than is contained
in an eloquent statement of good intentions.
(b.) Points proposed hy the King of the Hejaz.
15. Recognition of Independence. —In the first draft which he presented
(Annex 1) Ibn ha ud had inserted a clause providing for his recognition by
ilis Britannic Majesty as the tully, completely and absolutely independent King
ot the Hejaz and Nejd and their Dependencies, and for the extension of this recogni
tion in due course to ' his sons and grandsons. Our reply was that there was no
objection in principle to such a clause being inserted in the treaty; but we pointed
out that the recognition he required could scarcely be extended in such wholesale
fashion to his descendants, and suggested that the phrase "his lawful successors"
might be used instead. At the same time, while expressing our readiness to meet
Ibn Sa nd's wishes on this point, we endeavoured to persuade him that it was not
necessary, in a treaty limited to seven years, to insert provisions for the coming
generations. After some discussion, he accepted our point of view, and in his
third draft (Annex 5) made no mention of his successors.
16. Arms and Ammunition. —This question was first raised in the second draft
presented by Ibn Sa'ud (Annex 3),* in which he asked for an undertaking by His
Majesty's Government "to annul all decisions placing an embargo on the supply of
such arms and ammunition as might be required by the Government of the Hejaz and
Nejd and their Dependencies." There was no controversial discussion on the
principle of this question. We gave Ibn Sa'ud to understand that there would be no
objection to His Majesty's Government issuing export licences for arms and ammuni
tion required by him for governmental purposes, in accordance with the stipulations
of the Arms Traffic Convention of 1925. We also endeavoured to persuade him
not to insist on a clause being inserted in the treaty, but to content himself with the
explicit written declaration which we should be prepared to send him independently
of the treaty. When negotiations were suspended, Tbn Sa'ud was still pressing for
the insertion of a clause in the treaty. The reason for this insistence was, as he
informed us, that he thought it advisable to let the world, and in particular his
enemies, know that it was open to him to arm his troops as and when he liked.
17. Revenues of Haramain Waqfs. —This question, which is one of considerable
importance to Ibn Sa'ud, was -raised by him in his second draft (Annex 3). %
It relates to the revenues derived from certain religious endowments, known as
"Awqaf al-Haramain," which were founded at different times in various Moslem
countries for the specific purpose ot providing a lasting revenue to be spent upon the
upkeep and improvement of the two Sanctuaries of Islam, namely, Mecca and
Medina. These endowments almost invariably take the form of real estate property,
and the administration of those properties rests always with the competent authori
ties of the country in which each property is situated. But as regards the levenues
derived therefrom, the special dedication attached to the endowment makes it
incumbent on the authorities who administer each property to hand over the revenues
collected to the competent authorities in the Hejaz, whose duty it is to maintain the
two Ha rams. 1 . . . ,
Ibn Sa'ud declared that such endowments existed in various countries where
British influence was exercised, notably in Es^ypt, Palestine, Iraq and India, that
the competent authorities in those countries had been (and were still) withholc mg
the revenues derived therefrom; and that he wished to ask His Majesty s Government
to assist him in obtaining them. We replied that, owing to the religious aspect of this
* Not printed.