'File 61/11 VI (D 102) Hejaz-Nejd Miscellaneous' [‎96r] (212/522)

HIM . Lj\\
this document is the PROPERTY OFHlb BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Arabia ). February 13, 1934.
— """ ~ ]
CONFIDENTIAL. 7 SECTION 1.
[E 978/79/25] No- 1 -
Sir A. Ryan to Sir John Simon.-—{Received February 13.)
j^' ^Jedda, January 23, 1934.
WITH reference to previous correspondence ending with my telegram No. 9
of the 21st January, I have the honour to transmit herewith a translation oi
the article on Saudi-Yemen relations, which appeared m the Mecca Umm-al-Qura
of the 16th January, a number produced exceptionally on that day m anticipation
of the three days' festival which follows Ramadan. Having regard to Fuad Bey
Hamza's statements to me on the 9th and 16th January, as reported by telegiap ,
I have seldom seen a more curious publication. Fuad Bey had told me on t e
former date that Ibn Saud had made a fresh gesture of conciliation and that the
Imam's reply to the King's latest proposals was awaited. He told me at midday
on the 16th January, by telephone from Mecca, that this position was unchanged.
Yet the Umm -al-Qura had produced that very morning the obviously inspire
article with which I am now dealing. . . . • tj :
2' It is pretty clear that the question of Yemeni activities m the Bern
Malik and Abadil area has come into the forefront of the dispute between
Ibn Saud and the Imam. My maps and books of reference^
to locate that area, but it would appear to be somewhere X
Jizan and Sada. As I stated in paragraph 3 of my des P a l ch ° f ^ e b 10th reference
Fuad Bey started his conversation with me on the 9th January by a reterence
to the Imam's intrigues among the Bern Malik, but he P re ? e ' 1 p eill ee
importance. It is significant that, in the account given bj Colonel Reilly, see
Foreign Office telegram No. 6 of the 17th January, o P r ' l I ) rientralisation of
made by the Imam, he is represented as having asked for t ^ e ^ u ^ al ^ tl T d n
the Beni Malik. It is also significant that mention s m the Aden
Intelligence Summarv of the 20th December of a reported a PP ^ tl ™ > y R
Imam's commander at Haradh for sanction to march against the Jebel Ben,
Mal t If the Vmm-al-Qura article be taken at its face value, it reads almost
as though the heir apparent had gone ofl on his '' WT '', i, 8 'tornrct:! tion though
that he started without a wireless set. I confess t a ? s , , The" Am'ir Saud
it would rationalise the article, is intrinsically i m P ro r^; n , r at t i )e
is reputed to be a bit of a fanatic, and his pub is e a PP . „ j „
time of the Ibn Rifada affair was an almost reproach ',,I cry of ^t « u P
and at 'em "; but I have no other reason to suppose that he would defy a pa
» T m" S U, - - on th. >rj.
the 19th January from iaudi^Telllment and he admitted that the
to be in the inner secrets of the baudi Uovernmeni, anu uc however
situation was most puzzling. He pooh-poohed t e ' 7 P' m h . did not think
and said that he had not read it, and from what he had he^
it worth reading, and maintained stoutly that e , . . through
Riyadh ..trltf,, 2^825
dismissed so lightly, especially as 11 h COul d p C ^L suggested that it was all
sirs vusttur&te " rr; h .bt 5t«LTs
fissf s-t o.—.
had set about it in a very extraord mary ^^ which if confirmed, are
5. Mr. Philby gave two pieces the inner secret, he has
more important than his opinions, tor, tnoug
[31 n—1]