"ملف 61/11 IV (D 77) مسائل متنوعة خاصة بالحجاز ونجد" [و‎‎٤‎٩] (٣٦٦/١٠٧)

i
Sir A. Ryan to Mr. A. Henderson—[Received May 12.)
^ r 0 - 148 ) Jedda, April 17, 1931.
WITH reference to my telegram No. 19 of the 2nd February, I have the
honour to state that Fuad Bey Hamza returned to Jedda on the 13th April and
informed me by a personal letter of the 15th A.pi il that hp had tosuiiiec is
duties, i.e., those of Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
2 Although Fuad Bey's illness in December and January was undoubtedly
o-enuine, many people thought him unlikely to return to the Hejaz. Now that
he has come back, it remains to be seen what balance will be establisned between
him and Sheikh Yusuf Yasin, whose position with the King is strong and who
has since the beginning of February been thrust into close contact with the foreign
representatives. It will also be interesting to see how much of his time Fuad Bey
will spend in Jedda, either as a visiting representative of the Minister for
Foreign Affairs or as head of a properly-organised local branch of the Ministrv.
3^ It has been evident during the last two or three months that the
Emir Feisal himself plays no effective role as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ho
does not appear to have had anything to do with the recent negotiations with
Iraq except when texts had to be signed. I doubt whether he has even followed
the correspondence about Transjordan. On one occasion when I suggested to
Sheikh Yusuf Yasin that certain British-protected persons on whose bexialt 1
had made oral representations to him had been rebuked by the Hejazi Govern
ment for appealing to the Legation, he said that there could be no connexion
because onlv he, the King, my interpreter and myself had had knowledge of our
conversation. It did not occur to the sheikh to include in his list the Minister
whose Acting Under-Secretary he theoretically was at the time.
4. I am sending copies of this despatch to His Majesty s High Commis
sioners for Iraq and Transjordan, the Honourable the Political Resident in the
Persian Gulf and to the Secretary to the Government of India m the Foreign
and Political Department.
1 have, &c.
ANDREW RYAN.
} 138 m—11