'File 82/27 III (F 84) APOC: Qatar Oil' [‎73r] (143/638)

3
ippirently recorded in writing by the two parties or officially confirmed. Such a
* Gorji-
-ine would, of course, be quite inconsistent with the maintenance of the blue line
Mlfol' -- - ...
jxtension of much more, practical importance now than in 1922, when there was no
. t would equally give a very substantial extension to the boundaries of Qatar—an
t, j| { |., . , .. . . .
a ' 0:ie \uestiou of active exploitation of the hinterland, and our concern was chiefly to
leMe ,Maintain the independence of the sheikhdoms of the Arab littoral against Ibn Sand.
f ent ^he statement is, no doubt, an alternative version of Sir P. Cox's warning to Ibn Sand
to the eastern boundary of any concession to be granted by him in respect of Hasa
'discussed in the preceding paragraph, of which an authoritative record based on
Personal knowledge is given in Colonel Dickson's letter of 4th July 1933, No. 143
^taclida
le d'Fli
T.P.C. Map of February-March 1933.
Jilarit g. The map compiled by the LP.C. geologists during their survey in Qatar in
this Tif'ebruary-March 1933 marks a southern boundary line starting on the sea-coast
e ■itelinmediately south of Jabul-el-Naksh about 10 miles north of Salwa town and
:lil % miles north of the head of Dohat-as-Salwa Bay, turning abruptly to the south-
P^uch-east immediately south-east of Jabnl-el-Naksh for a distance of some 12 miles
tylijfel Qalat-ali-Bin-Said, and thence running due east, leaving Tuair-al-Hamir on its
through the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. -al-Ghurban to the sea, which it apparently reaches at a point
arovertome 8 miles north of the outlet of the Khor-al-'Udeid inlet and not very far into the
as arerlaqiyan Sandhills,
ierioii The A.P.O .c., in communicating a copy of this map, remarked : The dotted line p .z. 456/34.
3 expfconndary to the south of Qatar is apparently the Sheikh's version of the line. The
'ercyCuP.C. report, however, is not definite about this."
19131 The A.P.O.C. have since reported that, according to one member (Haji A. F.
) (jato nlliamson) of the geological party which visited Qatar in February and March
lie(jatrASS, the southern boundary shown on their map was indicated by the Sheikh
nicgisiinself. If the line in fact represents his view, the boundary, as will be seen, will
iwasuprrespond very closely to the pre-war line recorded by Lorimer.
to tie
as is s
Conclusions as to the Southern Boundary of Qatar.
S. It is suggested, in the light of the evidence collected above--
(а) that the south-eastern boundary of Qatar must lie to the north of the
Khor-al-'Odeid and the district oi; 'Aqal;
(б) that while His Majesty's Government had at no stage formally recognised
any specific southern boundary to Qatar (save to the extent referred to in
(a)), such evidence as is available goes to show that the pre-war
boundary ran roughly south-east across tke base of the Peninsula, from
Dohat-as-Salwa, or a point slightly north of it, to a point north of the
Khor-al-'Odeid. There is no recorded evidence of any more extensive
claims by the Sheikh of Qatar other than those to Abu Dhabi territory
referred to in paragraph 2 above ;
(c) in the light of the above, that, if it proves that the Sheikh of Qatar now
regards the line shown on the I.P.C. map as his southern boundary,
this may be accepted by His Majesty's Government as generally
satisfactory. Acceptance of that line, if we continue to regard the blue
line of the 1913 Convention as the eastern boundary of Ibn Saud's
territories (or even if we were to agree to the attribution of the Barr-al-
Qarah district lying east of the blue line to Hasa (see paragraph 18
below)), will admittedly leave an area of undetermined ownership between
ra^' Qatar and Nejd. The problems involved in this are discussed in greater
detail in paragraphs 10 and following. If, however, His Majesty's
ejd, 111 '" Uovernraent are prepared to face them, the boundary in question has the
merits that it is consistent with the obligations we have undertaken to
Abu Dhabi ; it is equally consistent with the maintenance of the blue
(gli line of the 1913 Convention as against Ibn Saud (or with such a modiii-
'f.nJ cation of that line as is referred to in paragraph 19 (c) (i) below; and it
1 I has the advantage of definitely limiting the area of any commitments in
3 ; respect of protection, &c., into which His Majesty's Government may think
635 'I it desirable to enter in the event of an oil concession being granted by the
Sheikh,