The Southern Boundary of Qatar and the Connected Problems. Report by J G Laithwaite dated 26 Jan 1934 and Appendix dated 27 Feb 1934 [‎2v] (4/10)

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Position of Area lying between Base of Qatar Peninsula and Blue Line of
Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913.
10. If, in these circumstances, it is accepted that the southern boundary of Qatar
should be a line running via or to the north of Sakak more or less south-east from
I)ohat-as-Salwa or a point slightly to the north of Dohat-as-Salvva to a point to the
north of the Khor-al-'Odeid, the difficult question arises of the position of the country
lying between such a line and the blue line of the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913.
"Importance of Maintaining the Blue Line.
11. On the one hand, it appears definitely important if possible to maintain the
blue line laid down in the unratified Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913 as against
Ibn Saud or any other future ruler of this part of Arabia. While the 1913 Convention
was never ratified, the blue line at any rate represents the agreement reached at the
time between Turkey and His Majesty's Government as to the limits of Turkish
authority in northern Arabia and on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and in dealing with Ibn Saud
as the successor in title to the Turks we can, it would seem, not unreasonably take
our stand on it. The difficulties of finding any satisfactory substitute are patent.
The undesirability of giving Ibn Saud, in the absence of any definite eastern boundary
to his territories, an excuse for territorial expansion (as distinct from the exercise, as
at present, of an informal influence and the receipt from our Arab clients of payments
which we do not recognise and the existence of which we ignore) in the hinterland of
the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. and of Muscat is equally clear. Such expansion would clearly
involve a risk either of his coming into conflict with the local rulers, whose treaty
relations with His Majesty's Government he has formally lecognised, or of his
establishing an influence in the Sheikhdoms in question so powerful as to be
embarrassing from our point of view.
Disadvantages of Maintenance of the Blue Line while fixing Southern Boundary
of Qatar at the Base of the Qatar Peninsula.
12. At the same time, important on general grounds, for the reasons given, as
the maintenance of the blue line appears to be, the fact must be faced that in the
present case, if we continue to regard it as the eastern boundary of Ibn Saud's territory,
and if, as suggested, we accept a southern boundary ior Qatar running roughly across
the base of the Qatar Peninsula, a not inconsiderable area lying between the two
States, and peopled by migratory Bedouin tribes, will be left in an indeterminate
political position. There is a possibility that the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi, who has in
the past exercised a wide influence, and made tribal alliances of his own, in the
Trucial hinterland—c/. Sir P. Cox's letter No. 176 of 28th June 1904—might prefer
some claim to such an area. But, though on this point further information will be
sought from the Resident, there seems little evidence of any active interest on the
part of Ahu Dhabi in any area to the west of 'Aqal. Assuming that no such claim
exists, or could be substantiated, the alternatives are to recognise the area as
belonging to Ibn Saud ; to recognise it as belonging to the Sheikh of Qatar ; or to
regard it as a political no-man's land.
13. If we recognised it as belonging to Ihn Saud we could, if necessary, call upon
him to keep Bedouin raids into Qatar from it under control. But such recognition
would not merely be inconsistent with the maintenance of the blue line of the 1913
Convention, to the abandonment of which, as stated above, the objections appear to be
strong, but would represent a formal acceptance of Saudi sovereignty to the borders
or Qatar and Abu Dhabi which might well prove embarrassing.
14. If, on the other hand, it is attributed to the Sheikh of Qatar, we should be
justified in expecting the full co-operation of the Sheikh in dealing with Bedouin
activities within its limits. But such an attribution would not merely give to Qatar
a substantial area which she does not in the past appear to have claimed, but would
extend the limits of any liability for protection which we may undertake in connection
with the grant of an oil concession. It might be necessary to claim the area (or at
any rate its coastal strip) for Qatar if there were serious signs of foreign interest
in it or of an intention on the part of Ibn Saud to occupy it. But pending such
developments it seems wiser to limit our commitments and to avoid any extension of
the area recognised by us as Qatar.