Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎7v] (15/540)

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addition there was the proposal to lay a pipe-line across Arabia to the
Mediterranean.
Aviation. —The United States Government early in the year asked the King
for permission to construct airfields at Riyadh, Jedda and Dhahran to facilitate
j their ferrying service to the Ear East, but he refused. I he question of the
! Dhahran airfield was again raised later, but the Americans do not for the
J moment appear to be pressing it. A request to establish an air-training centre
in the Hejaz to train Saudi pilots was also refused by the King.
Military Training and Arms. —A joint Anglo-American gift of arms and
equipment was made to the Saudi Government, the United States supplying
mainly rifles, automatic weapons and transport. American insistence on equal
participation with the British in training and equipping the Saudi army led
to the establishment in Taif of an American and a British military training team.
| The idea of a British Moslem military mission which the King had requested
I earlier in the year was dropped. The Americans also offered to train Saudi
personnel in Egypt.
A griculture. —An American mission of eight experts was accepted by
Ibn Sand in order to assist the development of agricultural pursuits in Saudi
Arabia. The first members of the mission arrived at the end of December.
Roads. —The Americans made an aerial survey of the country during the
year ostensibly to facilitate the alignment of the proposed north-south and
east-west highways, which they had offered to construct, but in reality to gain
a greater knowledge of the physical features of the country and to assist the
oil company to ascertain the probable oil-bearing areas in Saudi Arabia. A
ground party also operated for a short period from Taif.
Wireless. —A request by the Arabian-American Oil Company to establish a
{ wireless station at Dhahran for direct communication with America was referred
by the King to His Majesty’s Government, and at the end of the year was under
‘ discussion between Washington and London.
Consulates. —On His Majesty's Government’s advice the King agreed to the
! appointment at Dhahran of an American consul to look after the affairs of the
j increasing number of oil company's employees.
Education .—The Americans offered facilities for a number of Saudi students
! to study at the American University, Beirut.
Propaganda. —Towards the end of the year there was a considerable increase
in the distribution of material received from the Office of War Information and
an Arabic-speaking attache of the Legation was put in charge of the work.
Pilgrimage.
29. The number of pilgrims arriving in the Hejaz was about 42,000, as
last year, and included for the first time since 1941 a token pilgrimage of some
4,600 pilgrims from India. No special financial arrangements were made by
His Majesty's Government, as in 1943, to assist the Saudi Government, and the
latter fixed their own tariff rates abroad, which were considerably higher than
for 1943. As a result there was considerable criticism of the Government and
only some 10,000 Egyptian pilgrims arrived, as compared with over 16,000 in
1943. Generally speaking, however, the pilgrimage was a success and there were
no hitches in transport and supply matters. Shipping arrangements were as
last year co-ordinated in Cairo by the office of the Minister Resident in co-opera
tion with His Majesty’s representatives in the various countries concerned.
There was the usual close collaboration between His Majesty’s Legation and
the Saudi Government on all pilgrimage matters. As last year, these combined
efforts played a large part in ensuring the smooth working of the pilgrimage.
30. King Ibn Saud did not come on the pilgrimage, but was represented
instead by the Amir Faisal, who made no speech at the annual banquet for
pilgrims at Mecca.
31. There were no incidents during the pilgrimage. As already stated,
the Persian Government refused to allow their pilgrims to do the Hajj. Six
Soviet Moslem pilgrims from the Central Asian Republics arrived in the Hejaz,
the first to come from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics since 1927.
Middle East Supply Centre.
32. 1944 saw a rapid expansion in the organisation and control of the
Middle East Supply Centre in Saudi Arabia. As a concession to the Americans,
an American head'of the centre was appointed early in the year. An Anglo-
American-Saudi Co-ordinating Committee was set up to deal with the demands
of local merdhants and regulate imports through merchant channels. The