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'Relations between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Sheikh of Koweit' [‎6v] (12/20)

The record is made up of 1 file (10 folios). It was created in 1934. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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12
Kesident .... so far as may be practicable, on each specific occasion, and subject
to the further restriction that there shall be no question of establishing a
"permanent base in Koweit territory." As the result of considerable further
interdepartmental discussion, the Air Officer Commanding was authorised on the
25th September, at his discretion, to carry out occasional reconnaissances over
Koweit territory, both by air and car. " His Majesty's Government are anxious,
however, that—
(1) These reconnaissances shall be carried out as infrequently and in as
unprovocative a manner as possible, and
(2) That the Sheikh shall be given no ground for supposing that responsi
bility for the defence of Koweit has been assumed by His Majesty's
Government, or that he himself has been relieved of his obligations
in this respect. These considerations should be borne in mind by the
Air Officer Commanding in acting under the authority now given
him." (Colonial Office telegram to Bagdad, No. 306, dated the
25th September, 1928.)
3. Approval was subsequently given in view of a threatened Akhwan raid
over the border, to the concentration, subject to the approval of the Sheikh, of
armoured cars in Koweit 1 ' for protection of Iraqi tribes for so long a period
as one month."' (Colonial Office telegram to Bagdad. No. 76, dated the
23rd February, 1929.)
4. In April 1929 the question of the policy to be adopted by the Sheikh of
Koweit in the event of Xejdi tribesmen taking refuge from King Ibn Saud in
Koweit territory arose, the air authorities suggested that the Sheikh should be
asked to concur in the use, if necessary, of military force, the nature and extent
of which should be determined by the Air Officer Commanding, Iraq, for the
purpose of preventing any such refugees from entering or remaining in any
part of Koweit territory. On the 8th May, 1929, the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , in a letter
to the Colonial Office, remarked: "Viscount Peel gathers that the attitude of
the Sheikh is no longer in question and that he has already promised to endeavour
to prevent refugees making use of Koweit territory. As regards the question
of giving the Sheikh military assistance for this purpose, the Secretary of State
remains of his previous opinion that it is undesirable to extend in any way the
general liability hitherto accepted by His Majesty's Government for the defence
of Koweit territory, if this can at all be avoided It would, on the whole,
be preferable, if possible, to avoid asking the Sheikh to concur in the use of
military force, but if ... . such a request is still essential, he is prepared to agree
that the Sheikh should be asked to concur " The other Departments regarded
it as essential to make a request in the sense referred to of the Sheikh and the
necessary instructions were sent to the High Commissioner on the 11th May.
5. The view held as regards our liability for protection of Koweit during
the operations of 1928-29 is perhaps best stated in the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. letters of the
22nd August, 1928, and the 8th May, 1929, quoted in paragraphs 2 and 4 above.
While our precise liability for protection was not investigated in any great
detail, the course of action adopted in dealing with threats to Koweit territory
appears to have been generally consistent with the construction of our liability
suggested by Colonel Fowle in paragraph 10 of Bushire despatch No. 1365-S of
the 25th October, 1933.( 1 )
J. G. LAITHWAITE.
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , February 6, 1934.
(') [Note .—The paragraph referred to runs as follows: —
"The 1914 agreement states that in return for the Sheikh's co-operation against the
Turks ' Koweit shall be recognised as an independent principality under British protection.'
This, unlike the phraseology of the previous agreements, is a most categorical assurance, and
the word ' principality ' and not ' town ' being used, would seem definitely to place the
responsibility of protecting the whole of the Koweit Sheikhdom on His Majesty's Government.
Personally, I cannot agree with the view quoted in paragraph 15 of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. note, that
' on a strict reading our liability could be confined to the protection of the town of
Koweit, and that we are not called upon to protect Koweit as a whole.' It is true, as pointed
out in the note, paragraph 16 {d), that neither the present Sheikh, nor his predecessors,
appear to have appealed under this agreement to His Majesty's Government, but that hardly
relieves us from our obligations. This does not imply, of course, that His Majesty's Govern
ment's obligations relieve the Sheikh completely of the responsibility of his own defence.
The Sheikh should certainly be able to deal with any small raids across his frontiers, nnd
should only look for assistance from His Majesty's Government in the case of more serious
incursions. This, in fact, was presumably the attitude taken up after the Akhwan operations
of 1928, when the Sheikh was encouraged to purchase half-a-dozen Ford vanettes, Lewis guns,
which were mounted in the vanettes, and ammunition, and when some of his men received
training from the Eoyal Air Force as machine-gunners."]

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Content

This secret memorandum, printed by the Foreign Office, contains a record of a meeting held at the Foreign Office on 5 October 1933 to discuss relations between Great Britain and the Sheikh of Koweit [Kuwait], Aḥmad bin Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, particularly in regards to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Aziz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Āl Sa‘ūd]. The following were present at the meeting: Mr George William Rendel (Chair), Eastern Department of the Foreign Office; Mr K R Johnston, Foreign Office; Sir Andrew Ryan, His Majesty's Minister at Jeddah; Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; and Mr John Gilbert Laithwaite, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. .

The memorandum also includes three appendices:

  • 'Appendix A. Note by Sir Andrew Ryan. Ibn Saud's attitude towards Kowait', dated 16 August 1933 (folios 3v-4r);
  • 'Appendix B. Provisional Note. Obligations of His Majesty's Government towards the Sheikh of Koweit', 11 October 1933, by Sir John Gilbert Laithwaite (folios 4-6), which includes sections entitled 'A. Nature of the undertakings given', 'B. Constitution of the undertakings given to the Sheikh', and 'Conclusion', with references to various correspondence in the right hand margin;
  • 'Appendix C. Supplementary Note. Question of Liability for the Protection of Koweit against Aggression from Outside. 1928-1929', by Sir John Gilbert Laithwaite, dated 6 February, 1934 (folio 6).

There are also a number of enclosures which include correspondence between folios 6 and 10.

Extent and format
1 file (10 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Relations between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Sheikh of Koweit' [‎6v] (12/20), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B431, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023493289.0x00000d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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