'File 14/115 VIII B 15 Abu Musa. Red oxide concession.' [‎72r] (150/401)

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It is immediately cancelled, and a fresh one
substituted.
Certain expressions which appear in the first
agreement are not found in the second.
His Majesty's Government consider that the
irresistible inference to be drawn from such facts
is that the omitted expressions were objected to
as inaccurate or misleading, and that for that
reason the agreement was cancelled. His Majesty's
Government are in a position to show that such
was the case. Abdul Latif has explained (Ap
pendix 9) that the original agreement was drafted
by Abdullah-bin-Hassan Samieh, and was shewn
by him to Abdul Latif, who at once objected (a) to
the use of the expression now under discussion ;
(b) to the inclusion of Nakhoda Ali as a
signatory. The draft was accordingly cancelled
and a fresh agreement drawn up, in which the
objectionable expressions were omitted. The
original draft was never seen by Sheikh Sagar
until it was shown to him a short time ago
(Appendix 5 .
So far, then, from the use of the expressions
referred to being evidence of Saliin's ownership,
their omission from the second agreement is strong
evidence against it.
Reference is also made to the clause in the
second agreement providing for a payment for
the trade in "mother-of-pearl and canary-seed.""*
It is suoforested that this is " inconsistent with
oo
Sheikh Sagar's statement that he had granted to
Salim only the rent of the oxide mines."
It has been pointed out above that Sheikh
Sagar has never made the statement attributed
to him ; what he did say was that he had granted
to Salim the revenue of the island, which of
course included this payment in connection with
oysters.
Nor can any inference be drawn from the fact
that the agreement under which Sagar became a
partner provided that he should be responsible
for a proportional part of this payment. The
syndicate derived their rights from the document
of the 10th April, 1898, under which both the
annual rent and this special payment were
secured, and any person entering the syndicate
* It may l)e observed that the Arabic word translated
" canary-seed " more probably refers to a kind of oyster.
[2294/—2]
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