File 1855/1904 Pt 10 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikh's properties at Fao and Fadaghia' [‎169r] (337/398)

2 On the following day, through the courtesy of His Britannic Maiesty’s
Consul, Basrah, a visit from His Excellency the Wali, at which I had the
advantage of being present, was arranged at the Consulate.
3. His Britannic Majesty’s Consul asked His Excellency if he would be
so kmd as,to favour us with the views of the local Ottoman authorities on the
following question as Sheikh Mobarak’s complaints were continual and the
facts oUh^case 0 ^ ^ anX10US for me to re P ort as full y as possible on the
The question was posed in the following way
Why did the Turkish soldiers break down the embankment erected
by Sheikh Mobarak and recently repaired by him ?”
Was it on account of the land being newly reclaimed ?
Was it onaccountof the embankment proving prejudicial to the safety
His , ExceIlenc y replied that the embankment was broken down by the
soldiers under the immediate orders of the Commandant of the Fao fort and in
consequence of some rather ambiguous orders issued by the Commandant at
Basrah and that the question was largely a military one. The claim of the
aat h°nties which was, so His Excellency said, supported by the findim?
of the first commission of enquiry consisting of the Fort Commandant the
.He eC fM Shdkh M f nTt an,i , ,he °f Kao, was to
the ertect that bheikh Mobarak had by advancing his embankment enclosed
some 39,000 square mbtres of newly reclaimed Tash land, which was Govern
ment property and was required for military purposes,V*, the safety 'one
of the fort This safety zone, so His Excellency assmed us, he had ascertained
from the local Commandant had been recently laid down by regulation Jo be a
distance of 230 metres radiating from the Fort h all directions for a fire zonl
and for a second “ view” zone as one might call it a similar distance of 600
£d bLn a^s^edbv thr T? F ° Vt m aU dire u ctions ' His Excellency said that he
had been assured by the military surveyors that the land that Sheikh Mobarak
had attempted to reclaim lay within the safety zones.
5. I asked my colleague to inform His Excellency that Sheikh Mobarak
was under the impression that this committee had come to a different conclusion
vzs that the disputed ground formed part of the Fao pro P ertierbu“ the
10 ,he safe,r of the Fort - Toihrs HiS E *
6 I said to my colleague that possibly His Excellency might like to hear
from me what were Sheikh Mobarak’s pretentions with regard to the land in
question and His Excellency courteously expressed his willingness to hear
anything I might have to say on the subject. On this I said that Sheikh Mobarak
claimed that the piece of land in question was of long standing and at any rate
within recent times had not been reclaimed from the river as the rrmr! k
1 ha hifs\V^ b l dt K he ^ rt , Wa "5 ^ b “" yeL W ag„ h
3 hat Sheikh Mobarak claimed that the enbankment, recently demolished
the Turkish soldiers had been erected fourteen yelrs ago and had be ^
repaired three and four times annually without interference or exoortulatiln
from the Ottoman loca! authorities. I added that Sheikh Mobaral/requested
the appointment of a commission of Basrah landed proprietors to adjudicate
nnr 1 UeStl0I lr 0 p Whe H her th f and In dls P ute was newly reclaimed land or
1’ 1 , ^ av . e I s Excellency the names of the notables suggested by the Sheikh
and detaded ,n the report that accompanied my letter No. a^ol dated he
23rd June 1908 to your address. I did not consider it advisable at this juncture
t0 ,TT n th6 ? h ® lkh s demands as to the presence of a British representative
while the commission was sitting. lepresentative
f A , the , Sheikh waa even ready for the sake of peace and quietness
to admit that the land was newly reclaimed land, provided that he deceived
permission after payment of the usual taxes to reclaim, enclose and cultSe
the property in question. H.s Excellency seemed to offer no objection toThe
appointment of the Commission and expressly said that, if the mili ary auSoti
tles abandoned their claim, there would be no difficulty raised by the Govern,
ment to selling, as he put it, the new land to Sheikh Mobarak. *