'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [‎147r] (293/432)

of exaggeration, there remains a sufficient corpus of evidence
to suggest that Dohah, the capital of Qatar, is being, or at
least has been, used as an entrepot in this sickening traffic.
120. The Shaikh of Fujairah .
Shaikh Mohammad bin Hamad al Sharqi, Shaikh of Fujai
rah, arrived at Bahrain on the 27th June and called on the
Political .Agent on the 29th, He gave expression to strong
pro-British sentiments, and declared his readiness to assist
the British Government in any and every way open to him. The
Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , in thanking him for these sentiments, referred
with appreciation to the Shaikh* s action in making Mirza bin
Barkat and his family remove themselves from his territory.
Mirza bin Barkat, it will be recalled, is the freebooter and
slave trader whose piracies caused so much alarm last winter
among the owners of sea-going dhows, both Arab and Persian.
The Shaikh of Fujairah appears to be a young man of
parts, lively and with a quick intelligence.
121. Supplies for Saudi Arabia .
(i) Large shipments of food supplies, marked ’U.K.C.C.’
end consigned to Ras Tanura, have been received by Messrs. Gray
Mackenzie and Company, Bahrain.
Cii) Saudi Arabian Government officials recently told the
Personnel Manager of the California Arabian Standard Oil Company
that the Saudi Arabian Government had been given an opportunity
a short time ago of buying large supplies or rice from Egypt.
The offer had been refused as adequate supplies of rice were
already being obtained from India and, in any case, people in
Saudi Arabia did not like Egyptian rice.
122. Smuggling of Arms .
(D Bahrain 0 From time to time reports are received that
arms have been, or are going to be, smuggled out of Bahrain.
No seizures have yet been made though suspected dhows have been
searched after they have cleared the harbour and have set sail
for the Persian coast.
(it) Shar.iah . A seizure of ten smuggled rifles was recently
made at Sharjah. All the rifles were old. The smugglers are
also alleged to have committed two murders in the course of an
adventurous career extending over the last two months, the
details of which are still under investigation.
123♦ Smuggling of Gold .
(i) On the 17th June the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. received informa
tion from a private source that gold had been smuggled out of
Bahrain on S.S. Barpeta bound for Kuwait and Basrah. The author
ities st those ports were requested to take special preventive
steps^ and on the 20th June a telegram was received from the
Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Kuwait, reporting that 200 sovereigns had been
found on a passenger alighting there. The gold was contained
in a package which showed the consignor to be Haji Mohammed
Tahir Khunji, a well-known Bahrain merchant of Persian nation
ality.
(ii) On the 23rd June a launch bound for Kuwait, on which
a number of Kuwaiti merchants were travelling, was intercepted
by the Bahrain Police off Jedda Island and thoroughly searched.
No gold was found, but the passengers (who included a suspicious
looking ’guide* from the Hedjaz) were detained as they were
carrying uncensored letters. The most interesting item of the
launch’s cargo was a sack contain ing Rs 50,000 in currency notes.