Coll 6/84 'Yemen: Attitude of Yemeni Govt. towards the Italo-Ethiopian dispute. Policy of H.M.G. in event of Italian occupation of Yemeni territory.' [‎128r] (255/699)

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Arabia).
April 12, 1937.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 4.
[E 1964/678/91]
Copy No.
Sir R. Bullard to Mr. Eden.—{Received April 12.)
(No. 44.)
Sir, Jedda, March 25, 1937.
IN the summary of conversations with Ibn Saud which I had the honour to
submit as an enclosure to my despatch No. 41, dated the 23rd March, the question
of the Yemen was referred to in paragraphs 3. 4, 5 and 23. I now transmit a
summary of the document which the King handed to me when we were dealing
with this subject. The document is a multigraphed copy of a typewritten original
in Arabic, in the form of an open letter to the Imam. I understood from
Ibn Saud that the letter had been distributed widely in the Yemen. It urges the
Imam to designate his son Husain as his successor, instead of Ahmad, and to
begin now to train Husain for the task of government. There is a pan-Arab
touch in the request that two Moslems from Syria, Egypt or Iraq should sit on
the Council of Notables whose formation is recommended. In so far as foreign
interference is referred to. it appears that the British are placed on the same level
as the Italians.
2. Ibn Saud spoke with great earnestness about the certainty that trouble
must break out in the Yemen on the Imam’s death, if not before. The open letter
assures the Imam that a revolt will break out before his honourable coffin has
reached the cemetery. The open letter might be a piece of propaganda for Husain
with nothing behind it, for all I could tell, for I have little direct knowledge
about the Yemen, but Ibn Saud was doubtless telling the truth when he claimed
to be very well informed. He referred to the Wazir Minister. family as being with the rest
of the Yemen against Ahmad. It will be remembered that Muhammad-al- Wazir Minister.
came on the pilgrimage this year. He shared to some extent in the honours paid
to the three sons of the Imam by Ibn Saud.
3. I am sending copies of this despatch and enclosure to Cairo and Aden.
I have, &c.
R. W. BULLARD.
Enclosure.
Summary of the Contents of an Open Letter addressed to the Imam Yahya and
signed “ The Loyal Tongue of the Nation.”
THE Imam’s rule has been partly good and partly bad, but his piety has
caused, and still causes, his people to overlook the bad things and to be loyal to him
and to his house. However, times are changing and men with them, so he would
be well advised to listen to frankly uttered counsels.
He wishes his son Ahmad to succeed him. Such a succession would be
disastrous, for Ahmad is incapable of governing; in such an event the people
would be dissatisfied, and, on the death of the Imam Yahya, they would rise in
armed revolt. The agreements entered into with England and Italy, with a view
to strengthening Ahmad’s position, would prove valueless.
The writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. then advises the Imam as follows :—
(1) To consult the Amirs, Ministers and officials as to the man they consider
a suitable successor to the Imamate. It does not follow, of course,
that they will speak their minds freely.
(2) To proclaim A1 Husain as his successor and initiate him, in the Imam’s
lifetime, into the work of government with the assistance of a council
of notables. Among the members of such a council should be two
Moslem leaders or upright men from Syria, Egypt or Iraq. This
would be welcome to the people who consider A1 Husain an honest and
pious man, and would mean the frustration of foreign designs.
[981 m—4]