Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎87r] (174/540)

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to the Legation at Jedda, when Ibn Sand had already left Riyadh for Koweit, by
Fuad Bey Hamza, who asked that the authorities concerned should be warned.
His Majesty’s Minister reported this message with a reference to the standing
invitation of 1932, and the comment that he thought it would be inadvisable to
demur to the visit provided its private character was clear, and the sheikh could
be relied upon to enter into no political commitments. 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. gave it as his opinion that we could not demur to the visit, and
pointed out that whereas our treaties with Bahrein and the Trucial Sheikhs
(including Qatar) contain a specific provision that the sheikhs concerned shall
have no communication with foreign rulers, and therefore inferentially should
not pay or receive visits without the sanction of His Majesty’s Government, in the
Koweit agreements there is nothing to prevent communications between the
sheikhs and foreign rulers, and he could therefore pay and receive visits without
the sanction of His Majesty’s Government. It was only on that point,
Colonel Fowle added, that the foreign relations of Koweit differed from those of
the other sheikhs, and even with regard to communications we had an assurance
given by the sheikh to 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 Koweit in 1934, that he showed all
official correspondence with Ibn Saud to 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. . This question,
which called for a decision in connexion with Saudi-Koweit blockade discussions,
was considered at a meeting which was held at the Foreign Office on the
2nd September. Much of the discussion at that meeting lies outside the scope of
this report. It is sufficient to say that it seemed to the meeting unlikely that the
Saudi Government would question our right to conclude an agreement about the
blockade on behalf of the sheikh; all the negotiations on the subject hitherto had
passed through His Majesty’s Government, who had declared from the outset that
it was one of the major questions outstanding in Anglo-Saudi relations; it is laid
down in a decision taken since that meeting was held, that no approach to the
sheikh, with a view to the clarification of the situation, shall be made until the
agreement, which it is hoped to bring about in order to put an end to the blockade,
has been concluded.
54. The question of raising the status of the Sheikh of Koweit by
conferring on him the title of “ His Highness ” is dealt with above in the section
on Bahrein.
(10) Frontiers : Relations with the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Rulers in General.
55. The Mecca press published two baseless reports suggesting that some
kind of federation of the Arab Amirates of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. was being discussed
by the British authorities there. In June the Saut-al-Hejaz, repeating what was
described as “ Koweit news,” said that this was one of the questions discussed at
the recent “conference of consuls” at Koweit, and added that negotiations
between the Amirs were believed to be taking place, and that they had agreed to
a form of federation for external affairs which would leave them free in internal
matters. In December the Unim-al- Qura reported, on the authority of “ private
information from Bahrein,” that Colonel Fowle had been authorised to hold “ a
special British conference ” of the consuls in the Gulf to decide about the political
status of the amirates and their unification in matters of means of communica
tion and customs dues. These reports presumably represent some suspicion in the
mind of the King, aroused perhaps by things which had to be said in the course of
the frontier negotiations, that His Majesty’s Government wish to strengthen the
Gulf rulers as against himself. He may fear that the status of the Trucial sheikhs
and Qatar would be enhanced, and his position in regard to them diminished if
they were linked up in some way with the admittedly bigger fry of Koweit,
Bahrein and Muscat.
(B)— With Powers outside Arabia.
(1) British Commonwealth of Nations.
His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.
56. Relations between His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom
and the Saudi Arabian Government in 1936, centred mainly round two questions,
viz., relations with Italy, and the troubles in Palestine. Both these questions are
[15154] B 10