Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎61r] (122/540)

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said, would serve to narrow down any controversy which might possibly arise
when, and if, the new oil concession recently granted to Petroleum Concessions,
Limited, came to be exploited, and might help His Majesty’s Government to
secure an eventual definition of the inland boundary of the Sultanate. Nothing
more was heard about this during the year.
98. In September 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. at Bahrein expressed apprehension
about efforts by Ibn Saud to establish his authority at Baraimi. Apparently
Ibn Saud has long possessed some shadowy claim to Baraimi, but it lies so far
outside the extreme limit of the eastern frontier which he has claimed in the
course of the negotiations of the last few years that it would be difficult for
him to put forward a territorial claim to the oasis now. On the other hand,
Baraimi seems to be in the most promising area from the point of view of oil,
and if oil should actually be discovered in the oasis and boring begin, the
temptation to Ibn Saud to found a claim of some kind on whatever rights he
ever had there would be great.
99. To return to Jabal Nakhsh and Khor-el-Odeid (paragraph 94 above),
a thorny question which was still unsolved at the end of the year : On his
way out to Jedda via Bushire, Mr. Rendel went into this point thoroughly with
the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and they visited the spot in a Royal
Air Force aeroplane. Mr. Rendel made a careful sketch of the whole Jabal
Dukhan, of which the Jabal Nakhsh was found to be clearly an integral part.
On arrival in Jedda Mr. Rendel and Sir R. Bullard had a long discussion with
Sheikh Yusuf Yasin and Sheikh Hafiz Wahba on the subject. Mr. Rendel
described the terrain and gave Sheikh Yusuf copies of his sketch-maps, but
whereas he dwelt on the fact that Jabal Nakhsh was an integral part of Jabal
Dukhan and Jabal Dukhan of the Qatar Peninsula, Sheikh Yusuf reinterated
the old argument based on tribes : all the tribes in that area owed allegiance to
Ibn Saud, who might have claimed much more, but if Jabal Nakhsh were conceded
to him he would abandon the rest of his claim in that quarter. Mr. Rendel
said that the integrity of the peninsula must be maintained. The claim to Jabal
Nakhsh had been put forward by the Saudi Government at an advanced stage
in the discussion and came as a complete surprise to His Majesty’s Government.
Was it worth missing a settlement for it? Attention was then turned to
Khor-el-Odeid, where, Mr. Rendel said, he had hoped that something might be
done to meet the King’s wishes in this area, but a profound study of the records
showed that for sixty years or more—long before there was any question of a
Saudi claim—we had formally recognised it as part of the Sheikhdom of Abu
Dhabi. A note giving the most important points from the history of the case,
including extracts from a letter from Sir Percy Cox to the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi,
dated 1st December, 1906, recognising Odeid as in Abu Dhabi territory, was
handed to Sheikh Yusuf. Sheikh Yusuf and Sheikh Hafiz Wahba argued that
recognition of our special treaty relations with the Trucial Sheikhs in article 6
of the Treaty of Jedda did not imply recognition of any particular frontiers,
but Mr. Rendel pointed out that our recognition of a valid claim by such a
sheikh to any particular place formed part of our treaty relations with that
sheikh and must be regarded as covered by Ibn Saud’s recognition of our
special relations with him. Finally, Mr. Rendel pointed that, while the Khor-
el-Odeid itself was valueless to the King, being useless as a harbour, the land
to the west of it afforded the only land passage between Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
In any case it would be impossible for us to go back on the undertaking of
1906. Finally the discussion turned to the Sufuq (better, Safaq) wells. Here,
said Mr. Rendel, there was* hope that some concession could be made. If, as
he believed, the wells were much nearer the coast than appeared from the map,
the Saudi frontier could be moved further towards the coast, on condition that
Safaq and the caravan route remained in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Yusuf Yasin played
the usual Saudi card of declaring Safaq to be a Marra well, but this Mr. Rendel
could not admit.
100. It may be mentioned here that a few days later information was
received from the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , based on investigations
made by the Royal Air Force, that Safaq was, in fact, much nearer to the coast
than used to be supposed. It appears that even the latest General Staff map
shows Safaq as nearly three times as far from the coast, measured along a
line running almost directly north, as it really is.