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to be admitted that the use of a route so close to Saudi territory as to increase
the danger of occasional violations lessened the right of His Majesty’s Govern
ment to expect the Saudi Government to view them leniently.
Alleged Violations of Saudi Territory by British Aircraft.
150. There were, happily, very few complaints in 1933 of flying over or
landing without the permission of the Saudi Government. It had to be admitted
in January that an Imperial Airways machine had lost its way in the previous
November and flown over Jubayl to get bearings. Two new complaints of flying
over in the same area were made in February, but proved to have no foundation.
An important case occurred on the 31st March when the Imperial Airways liner
Hanno made a forced landing at Jubayl. In this case it was possible to notify
the Saudi Government the same evening. The local authorities were most helpful
and, although the Minister for Foreign Affairs embodied a protest in his reply
to a note from the Legation, it was of the mildest possible description. The only
other case that arose was on the 24th July, when a Royal Air Force flying-boat was
forced by engine trouble to land on the coast close to Jinna Island and immediate
relief had to be sent by air, in addition to which H.M.S. Bideford proceeded to
the spot. In this case also prompt notice was given to the Saudi Government,
although their permission for the visit of the relief and the warship was not
awaited. They made no protest on this occasion, preferring to confine themselves
to an expression of regret that the incident should have occurred and of solicitude
for the flying-boat and its crew.
151. Thus the balance sheet for the year was satisfactory, both as regards
the number of incidents and the attitude of the Saudi Government. Their
reaction demonstrates the advantage of explaining and apologising for unavoid
able trespasses at the earliest possible moment; but it must not be assumed that
they will always be so gentle. Their complaisance in July was almost certainly
due to Ibn Saud’s anxiety at the time to enlist the sympathy of His Majesty’s
Government in his grievance against the Imam Yahya.
152. There were no complaints during the year of aircraft crossing the
Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier, as to which the Saudi Government are even more sensitive
than they are about the Hasa coast.
VII.— Legislation.
153. No progress seems to have been made in 1933 with the task of
co-ordinating the confused mass of Saudi legislation. It is still difficult in a
country where no law in the European sense can be enacted, because the Prophet
legislated for all time, and in which there is no official gazette, to keep track of
the various acts which may be regarded as legislative. Nevertheless, there has
of late been rather more method in the promulgation of such acts, if only because
they more frequently form the subject of “high decrees ” and because official
communiques, which are often quite important in this connexion, are numbered
and dated.
154. The output of legislation of any kind seems, however, to have been
small in 1933, apart from enactments relative to matters already mentioned, like
the designation of the heir apparent, the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan treaty settlement, the
customs tariff and concessions and connected matters. The regulation on rents
for the year ending the 25th April, 1933, was renewed with one modification
for the succeeding year. Certain existing regulations were amended, e.g., that
on fire-arms, which was tightened up, and the regulation regarding the committee
to deal with the pilgrimage.
155. Two or three regulations on police and judicial matters were of mainly
local interest. The following regulations of more general interest are worth
enumerating :—
(a) Two communiques of the 21st May and the 7th July dealt with the
annulment of old papers of Saudi nationality and the adoption of
a new form of Saudi passport.