'File 8/15 Arab Series - 1933-1939' [‎95v] (190/434)

Enclosure 5 to Serial No. (33).
Letter from the Colonial Office, to the Foreign Office, No. 78076(35, dated
the 15th April 1935.
In Cowell ? s absence I am writing to you on the question of the restrictions
s'id to have been placed by the King of the Yemen on Jews in that country. Our
last letter from the Foreign Office on the matter was Johnstone’s letter to James,
!Noi E.-1720(14)91 of the 22nd March (Enclosure 3 ante).
We have no\v received the further despatch promised by Reilly, and I enclose
a copy of it for your consideration (Enclosure 4 ante).
Before a decision is reached as to what should now be said to Colonel
Wedgwood and also the Joint Foreign Committee, may Williams and I discuss *
the matter with you ?
(34)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated 23rd April 1935.
Letter from H. E. the High Commissioner for Egypt, to the Foreign Office,
No. 319, dated the 25th March 1935.
With reference to Sir A. Ryan’s despatch No. 75 of March 11th, 1935,
relative to Saudi-Egyptian relations, I have the honour to report that the’Saudi
Arab Agent in Cairo (Sheikh Fawzan El Sabek) has recently been included hi
the list of persons receiving customs franchise in Egypt'and authorised to
obtain supplies of duty free petrol. These concessions, which have been the
subject of official correspondence between the Saudi-Arab Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explain the article in the “ Saut-al-Hejaz ” news
paper quoted by Sir A. Ryan, but they do not, of course, connote the full recogih-
tion suggested by the Egyptian journalist.
2 . 1 am sending a copy of this despatch to His Majesty’s Minister, Jeddah.
(35)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated 3rd May 1935.
{Received on 25th May 1935, with Political Secretary^ letter No. 19, dated 10th
May 1935.)
Letter from H. M.’s Minister, Jedda, to the Foreign Office, No. 80, dated the
18th March 1935.
With reference to my despatch No. 56 of the 24fh February [Serial No. (31) ],
relative to the concession recently granted bv the Saudi Government to the Saudi
Arabian Mining Syndicate (Limited), I have the honour to state that the Royal
decree sanctioning the concession referred to an agreement and contract'as
lia\ ing been signed by the Minister of Finance and the representative of the
syndicate. It now appears that these were two separate instruments as, after
the agreement summarised in the enclosure to my despatch under reference had
been published, the Umm-al-Qura proceeded to publish, in instalments, an even
lengthier document described as a contract concluded on the same date as the
main agreement.
2 . Although the further document is described as above, it is clear from
internal o\ idence that it is a form of mining lease for fiftv-eight years, in respect
ot areas to be finally selected for definite mining operations in accordance with
article 3 of the main agreement. The procedure contemplated would appear to
be that the Government will lease these areas t'o the syndicate on the conditions
laid down in the “ contract ”, and that the syndicate will form subsidiary com
panies to work the individual properties. As the general conditions are stated
in the main agreement, I do not think it necessary to report at length on the
“contract ”, the detailed stipulations of which appear to follow normal lines.
The following points, however, may be noted
{a) The Government are to receive during the period of the lease a rent of
£1 per feddan of the leased area plus the excess, if anv, of 5 per cent,
of the product of the mine over the rental so fixed.
(b) The special arrangement for payment of customs duty on imported
supplies, etc., at a flat ratQ of 10 per cent, will operate throughout
the period of the lease.