Coll 6/85 'Arabia. Boundaries in: Interpretation of Rome Understanding of 1927.' [‎37r] (73/80)

3
El Katr except to respect it under the terms of the treaty of 1915, and
insisted on the limitation of his discussions to the country west of the
longitude of the head of Salwah Bay, i.e., the line laid down in the Anglo-
Turkish Convention, 1913, and marked in blue on map 2 annexed thereto.
“ As Ibn Saud accepted this injunction without argument and nothing
, later appears to have transpired, it may reasonably be held that the line of
1913 still constitutes the frontier between El Katr and Nejd.”
6. In February 1934 a despatch was received from His Majesty’s
Ambassador at Angora [E 1206/1206/91/1934] reporting the receipt of a
request from the United States Embassy for a copy of the “ Anglo-Turkish
Treaty of the 29th July, 1913, which delimited the frontiers between Aden and
the Ottoman dominions and between Muscat and the Ottoman dominions.” It
was assumed in the Foreign Office that this request was connected with the
operation of the Hasa Oil Concession by the California Arabian Standard Oil
Company, and it was held to be desirable that the position of His Majesty’s
Government with regard to the boundaries mentioned should be made clear to the
United States Government, and that the United States Embassy at Angora should
be put in possession of all the relevant treaty texts. After consultation with the
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , a despatch was sent to His Majesty’s Ambassador at Angora on the
22nd March, 1934 [E 1839/1206/91/1934]’ instructing Sir P. Loraine to com
municate a copy of the 1913 convention to the United States Embassy, and to show
them a copy of the 1914 convention, which, unlike the 1913 convention, had been
published. In this despatch the view was definitely taken that the fact that
certain territories on the Ottoman side of the 1913-14 line had now become
independent States, could not be regarded in the view of His Majesty’s Govern
ment as in any way affecting the status of the territories on the other side of that
line, which His Majesty’s Government regarded as forming the boundary between
the Ottoman Succession State of Saudi Arabia and the territories of South-
Eastern Arabia with which they were in special relations. Sir P. Loraine was
instructed to call the attention of the United States Embassy to the fact that the
1913 convention was not ratified, but to point out to them, in support of the view
taken by His Majesty’s Government of the validity of the line laid down therein,
that that line was mentioned, adequately defined and definitely adopted in
article 3 of the 1914 convention, which had been ratified.
7. One point arising out of the question of the 1913-14 frontier line is
whether that line should be regarded as merely establishing the limits of Saudi
Arabian territory or whether it also lays down the boundaries of the territories of
Arab rulers with whom His Majesty’s Government are in special treaty relations.
After Mr. Philby’s expedition into the Ruba-al-Khali in 1932, the Saudi Arabian
paper, the Umm-al-Qura, in publishing an account of the expedition, advanced a
claim to Saudi Arabian sovereignty over the districts visited. The Foreign Office
then decided not to take the initiative in examining questions of territorial claims
in the Ruba-al-Khali. The question of the territorial limits of Qatar has, how
ever, arisen in connexion with the operation of the Hasa Oil Concession (see
paragraph 6 above). Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson, 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, who
was present with Sir Percy Cox at the Uqair negotiations with Ibn Saud in
November and December of 1922 already referred to, has furnished a report
'E 279/279/91/1934] on the discussions which then took place regarding the
Nejd-Qatar boundary. According to this report, Ibn Saud produced Hunter’s
map of Arabia 1-inch to 32 miles, on which was marked in blue pencil the area
which he proposed to grant to the Eastern and General Syndicate for their con
cession. This area included the whole of the Hasa Province and the Qatar
peninsula, the south-western and southern boundary of the concession being
marked by a line drawn down the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Faruq as far as Jaw-ad-Dukhan and
then turning east from there to Khor-adh-Dhuwaihin on the coast. Sir Percy Cox
marked in red pencil on the map a line from Jaw-ad-Dukhan to Dohat Salwa,
saying to Ibn Saud : “ That is the line,” and crossed out the incorrect line marked
in blue. It will be noticed that the line marked by Sir P. Cox was not in
accordance with that laid down in the 1913 convention. As it was not clear
whether Sir P. Cox intended to indicate the frontier between Nejd and Qatar or
whether he was merely warning Ibn Saud against assuming sovereignty east of
the red line on the map, and as Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson’s report (written
more than ten years after the event) contained nothing to show that mention was
[81 gg—2] B 2