'File 19/163 II (C 77) Nejd-Bahrain Relations' [‎3r] (18/444)

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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 2112/266/25] No. 1.
Gonsul-General Biscoe to Colonial Office.—[Communicated to Foreign Office,
April 27.)
(No. 10. Confidential.)
Sir, Bushire, March 31, 1932.
IN paragraph 4 of my despatch No. 2 of the 5th February, 1932, regarding
my visit to King Ibn Sand, I mentioned that among the subjects discussed was
the possibility of some consular status being afforded to Nejdi representatives
in Bahrein and Koweit.
2. I now have the honour to amplify somewhat the brief reference to this
subject therein made. The question was raised by Yusuf Yasin in the course
of one of our lengthy nightly discussions, and he began by asking me whether
it would not be possible to accord some consular status to a Nejdi representative
at Bahrein. I replied by saying that he knew how delicate was the position at
Bahrein vis-a-vis the Persians, who had not yet abandoned their claim ; that
there was a very large Persian colony at Bahrein, and that if we allowed the
Hejaz-Nejd Government to have a consular representative the Persians would
inevitably put forward a similar demand: in fact they had already made a
request to this effect, to which His Majesty's Government had not acceded.
Sheikh Yusuf Yasin admitted the force in this contention and did not press the
matter any further in respect of Bahrein, but went on to ask whether it would
not be possible to give some sort of official status to Nafisi, Ibn Sand's trade
agent at Koweit, since, as far as he was aware, there were no difficulties with
the Persians at that place. I replied that this was not altogether correct: the
Persians did not claim Koweit, but did not recognise it and impounded Koweiti
passports if brought to Persia, &o. It would, in my opinion, be extremely
undesirable to allow the Persians to have a consular representative at Koweit
for reasons which he would doubtless appreciate; but if any consular status
was accorded to Nafisi we could hardly refuse a similar concession to the
Persians, who had a large number of subjects in Koweit. He saw the force of
this argument and did not press the matter further. ^
I am sending a copy of this despatch to His Majesty's Minister at Jeddah
and to the Government of India. A
I have, &g.
H. V. BISCOE, Lieutenant-Colonel,
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. .
[435 dd—1]
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April 27, 1932.
^ ^ ^ S ection 1.
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