'File 82/27 III (F 84) APOC: Qatar Oil' [‎78r] (153/638)

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shown on Fraser -Hiinter's map, stands by itself, as such an arrangement was never
i apparently recorded in writing by the two parties or officially confirmed. Such a
}eave en then line would, of course, be quite inconsistent with the maintenance of the blue line.
Wo C oiii J It would equally give a very substantial extension to the boundaries of Qatar-—an
r ? a ' TlieCo lr j extension of much more practical importance now than in 1922, when there was no
!( ^ 18 alone re i eTS question of active exploitation of the hinterland, and our concern was chiefly to
re iereiice ig uj I ma intain the independence of the sheikhdoms of the Arab littoral against Ibn Saud.
ras nev er itself J The statement is, no doubt, an alternative version of Sir P. Cox's warning to Ibn Saud
^ by a bluej as to the eastern boundary of any concession to^ be granted by him in respect of Hasa
Zaqnuniyelin discussed in the preceding paragraph, of which an authoritative record based on
1 Arabian Degeit personal knowledge is given in Colonel Dickson's letter of 4th July 1933, No. 143.
^attached toij w h r q . 2 k 2* c f7
^uile d'El Eat I.P.C. Map or February-March 1933.
8. The map compiled by the I.P.C. geologists during their survey in Qatar in
ni tV 1 February-March 1933 marks a southern boundary line starting on the sea-coast
V f vieff ' ^ immediately south of Jabul-el-Naksh about 10 miles north of Salwa town and
^ fle intentioDi ^ m [\ es nort h of the head of Dohat-as-Salwa Bay, turning abruptly to the south-
Wiided.ortt goul; h. ea st immediately south-east of Jabul-el-Naksh for a distance of some 12 miles
™ P* 1 to Qalat-ali-Bin-Said, and thence running due east, leaving Tuair-al-Hamir on its
ai nty by Qatar? ^ trough 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
•gram oflltUi som ' e 3 m ji es 0 f the outlet of the Khor-al-'Odeid inlet and not very far into the
, aiom ' Naqiyan Sandhills. i i « r™ i jt
aQ as are nowc ^.P.O.C., in communicating a copy of this map, remarked : Ihe dotted line P.Z.
of serious iinpori boundary to the south of Qatar is apparently the Sheikh's version of the line. The
I, as explained j^p.O. report, however, is not definite about this.
r Percy Cox ml * The A.P.O.C. have since reported that, according to one member (Haji A. F.
the 1913 Com Williamson) of the geological party which visited Qatar m February and March
the Qatar Pei i933 ) the southern boundary shown on their map was indicated by the Sheikh
The Qatar Pel himself. If the line in fact represents his view, the boundary, as will be seen, will
IjoiningArabiK. correspond very closely to the pre-war line recorded by Lorimer.
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m to the booe' Conclusions as to the Southern Boundary of Qatar.
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9. It is suggested, in the light of the evidence collected above —
(a) that the south-eastern boundary of Qatar must lie to the north of the
olmes as the U Khor-al-'Odeid and the district of 'Aqal;
sl (h^ that while His Majesty's (jovernment had at no stage fovfnally recognised
p any specific southern boundary to Qatar (save to the extent referred to in
^ tn his soli' { a ))> such evidence as is available goes to show that the pre-war
: /l trpr 0 f Itl! boundary ran roughly south-east across the base of the Peninsula, from
L LuQdei Dohat-as-Salwa, or a point slightly north of it, to a point north of the
3 ^ n 1 u Khor-al-'Odeid. There is no recorded evidence of any more extensive
0 ' tOqaint claims by the Sheikh of Qatar other than those to Abu Dhabi territory
SS1 ?\ a a, the I referred to in paragraph 2 above ;
1 'nrlc ! ( c ) in tlie % ht of tlie above ' that ' if it P roves that tlie Sheikh of Qatar now
, and - Uaj ' regards the line shown on the I.P.C. map as his southern boundary,
and drew - ^ may be accepted by His Majesty's Government as generally
1, be . satisfactory. Acceptance of that line, if we continue to regard the blue
Ibn Saud 111 ; line of the 1913 Convention as the eastern boundary of Ibn Saud's
i es thewW; territories (or even if we were to agree to the attribution of the Barr-al
est of the b ; Qarah district lying east of the blue line to Hasa (see paragraph IS
,rea jTtf. below)), will admittedly leave an area of undetermined ownership between
, be noted ^ Qatar and Nejd. . The problems involved in this are discussed in greater
ievrast 0 ^ detail in paragraphs 10 and following. If, however. His Majesty's
,g of Qatar sa^ Government are prepared to face them, the boundary in question has the
]\ 1 e]d, or merits that it is consistent with the obligations we have undertaken to
• tbeblw^ 1 Abu Dhabi; it is equally consistent with the maintenance of the blue
j iif line of the 1913 Convention as against Ibn Saud (or with such a modifi-
1 of 20th^ ce ' cation of that line as is referred to in paragraph 19 (c) (i) below ; and it
l" -a girP.^ bas the advantage of definitely limiting the area of any commitments in
w a liner^ respect of protection, &c., into which His Majesty's Government may think
110 t IP it desirable to enter in the event of an oil concession being granted by the
L f W ' Slieikh -
ted