'File 8/39 A. S. L. O.'s [Air Staff Liaison Officer] Reports' [‎40r] (79/416)

13* Ship ping: (period 16 Fob, - 15 Mar*)
53 Sliips (31 British, 13 ij.iorican, 6 Norwegian, 1 Danish,
1 Swedish, and 1 Panaiaanian) called at the port of Bahrain during the
period* Imports were 6570 tons of general cargo for Bahrain and 2148 tuns
for transhipment to the mainland. Exports consisted of 762 tons of general
car^o and 309>100 tons of petroleum products.
KUWAIT .
14. Visitors:
Princess Eugenie of Greece, and Mile. vTyrakoff arrived here by
road from Basrah on the 25th Peb. and returned to Iraq on the Morning of
the 27th Feb. They stayed at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. except for a night spent in the
desert 50 miles from Kuwait. They had left Basrah without notifying the
Political .-.gent by wire and the car bringing them had been immobilised try
two burst inner tubes. No other vehicle passed for 17 consecutive hours -
a most unusual occurrence. His Highness met them at dinner at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. on
25 th and presented the Princess with a radio-set. Next day they were
entertained to an Arab dinner by Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak.
15* Local News :
(i) The 26th Feb. anniversary of the accession of His Highness ms
celebrated on the 23rd Feb. which was observed as a public holiday. In the
morning His Hi hness received the felicitations of members of the British
and American communities and of his own subjects. He lunched with II.E. the
Commander-in-Chief on board K.M. 3. "Glasgow" and in the evening* an Ardha
was held in the town square which was witnessed amongst others, by Sir
Arthur and Lady palliaer 1 and Major and Mrs* Tandy* On the 24th the Kuwait
schoolboys staged a highly successful dramatic entertainment in His
Highness* honour consisting of several short plays and songs.
(ii) The Kuwait Education Department has purchased a small printing
press in partnership with a local merchant, and will possibly produce
a periodical,
(iii) On 14th October 1946, a man was found dead on the outskirts of
Kuwait town. The story was put about that he had died of alcoholic poi-
sonan, as a bottle of araq was said to have been found in his pocket.
As a result of representation of the Saudi Arabian Government however, the
Kuwait Government arrested Laid bin Khalid az Zaid - a member of the
consultative assembly - and Mohammed Habib Talton on 3rd March. It is
alleged that the man v/as murdered by these persons,
(iv) Reference para 20 - AeLO* s report for January,
It is understood that the Egyptian doctor has tendered his
resignation which has been accepted.
M U S C A T .
1 6 * Geological Survey :
Sir Cyril Fox, the Director of Geological Survey of India, returned
to India on 17th Feb. after surveying the Dhofar region. He had arrived on 6 th*
17# Sale of Axnin l tion :
Recently, and ^xab from Quryat arrived at Muscat with some samples of
ammunition he wanted to dispose of in Muscat and Mutrah. It was suspected
that this must be a portion of the ammunition recovered by the inhabitants of
Sur and Ras al Hadd, when the personnel of the Royal Air Force dumped it in
shallow waters near Ras al Hadd before their evacuation last year. Arrange
ments are being made through the Muscat State for the recovery of this