'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf for the Year 1937' [‎24r] (47/72)

37
( ti ) New village of Doha.—Fov some years fishermen have been spend-
ing each winter on Ras Ashairij in the Bay west of Kuwait, living in tempo
rary huts.
Lately they have been making permanent buildings of a white sand stone
found on the spot, and this year have made cement rain water reservoirs
which being entirely filled, will enable them to remain throughout the year.
There are at present 35 permanent houses, a mosque and communal
" Mejlis " or assembly room, so that the settlement may now be recorded
as entitled to the rank of a permanent " village and noted as such on maps.
It is rather nearer the eastern side of the headland than the west, and two
hundred yards from it, and is known as Doha.
(o) Quarantine. —The Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Medical Officer continued to be the Kuwait
Quarantine Officer. During the year the Kuwait Quarantine buildings were
renovated by the Ruler and are now in good condition.
V.—C ondition of the country.
Law and order have remained unchanged. Security in the hinterland
continues to be good, but see Iraq Para, (a) below for reports of Police raids.
VI.—F oreign relations.
(a) Saudi Arabia.
During the year relations remained unaltered and the Blockade, and
correspondence on the subject, continued.
The Saudi Arabian Government, however, now permits and officially
recognizes for taxation purposes the import ot Saudi goods to Kuwait. It
has also this year permitted a very large number of Nejdi tribesmen to enter
Kuwait territory for grazing in which permission is implicit for " Mussabila
or restocking in the Kuwait Markets.
The Awazim tribe alone numbers over 5,000 in Kuwait territory at the
end of the year, and there is perhaps an equal number from other Saudi
tribes, which include some like the Subaih from far South in Nejd.
(6) Iraq.
[а) Incursions by Police. —Incursions by the Iraqi Police were reported
by the Ruler to have occurred on the 5th January, 6th March, 28th April,
24th June and 15th October, 1937.
Representations were duly made through diplomatic channels.
A case in which there was no room for doubt about the facts was that on
the 15th October when the Iraqi Police attacked a caravan at Idairat A1
Khulla, thirty miles inside Kuwait territory.
The Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. visited the scene the next day and a formal protest
was addressed to the Iraqi Government in due course.
(б) Newspaper articles. —An attack on the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. was made by
A1 Nas newspaper of Basra in its article of the 10th September.
There have appeared numerous other inaccurate and malicious articles
about the British affairs generally in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
(c) Palestine.
There have been no particular incidents in connection with the Palestine
disturbances to report; although there were half-hearted attempts to sub
scribe to Palestinian funds, and some expression of sympathy by telegraph
and otherwise in the earlier part of the yeaf.
The disappearance from the scene of the Mufti and the Supreme Muslim
Council brought this to an end.
oiJ^C) ExAffairsDept