File 869/1904 Pt 2 'Arms Traffic: - Red Sea, Africa and Aden' [‎145r] (298/540)

[Confidential.]
No. 6 oij dated Maskat, the 2 nd (received iith) November IQ 07 .
From— Major W. G. Grey, 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. and His Britannic Msiesty's Consul
Maskat, j j >
To 1 he Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department, Simla.
v i ^ aV f ^ onour t0 f° rwar d herewith, for your information, a copy of letter
j bco J da ^ e 1 d ^November 1907, and its enclosures, which I have addres
sed to the Political Kesident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire.
0 - J
Fro
No. 600 , dated Maskat, the 5 th November 1907
m-
-Major W. G. Grey. 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. and His Britannic Majesty's Consul
Maskat, J J
To—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. , Bushire.
In connection with Foreign Department telegram No. ,^75, dated 3rd August
last, and my reply dated 9th idem regarding the visit to Maskat of agents of the
Somaliland Mullah for the purchase of arms and ammunition, I have the honour
to report the steps which have been taken to prevent the acquisition of arms by
the persons referred to.
2. You are doubtless aware that at this season of the year there is consider-
Eight enclosures. a1:de communication between Oman and
Somaliland, the Somalis bringing mother-
of-pearl and other articles to this country and returning with cargoes of dates
to their own. In view of the fact (reported in my letter dated 22nd July last)
that an agent of the Mullah had succeeded in removing a consignment of arms
from Oman last year, I was on the watch for the possible visit of others prior to
the receipt of the telegram above referred to, and upon the arrival of the two
men mentioned in my reply, Muhammad (not Ahmad) bin Farah, and Hamad
(not Ahmad) bin Sharu, issued a warning to British subjects on no account to
sell either to Somalis or to any person whom they might have reason to expect
was purchasing for Somalis, and obtained promises from His Highness the Sul
tan and my French colleague that they would do everything possible to restrain
their subjects and proteges from effecting such transactions. Hence the failure
of the Somalis mentioned to obtain arms in the first instance.
3. Before proceeding to Karachi at the end of August, I thought ft better to
make communications to Sir Saiyid Faisal, and to the French Consul, in writing,
and received from them satisfactory replies : that of M. Laronce and a trans
lation of that of His Highness are attached (enclosures 1 and 2).
4 . I must here invite attention to the ease with which arms can be acquired
by undesirable persons even in the event of everything possible having been done
in Maskat to prevent such acquisition. They have merely to retire to some
other port of Oman and from thence to despatch an agent to Maskat for the
purpose required. This agent buys the arms through one of the local brokers,
and in all probability the name of the real purchaser never comes to the ears of
the broker Often a local commercial agent in the Gulf who regularly performed duties of intelligence gathering and political representation. , much less to those of the arms merchant. It is almost certain that
this was the course taken in the instances referred to in this report, as the Sultan
has several times warned those of his subjects who deal in arms in accordance
with his promise to me.
5. Early in September while at Karachi, I was informed by Captain Scott, the
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Surgeon, that 300 rifles had been purchased in Maskat for the Mullah’s
agent and despatched to A 1 Khadra on the Batinah coast and a day or two
later that 150 more had been sent to Sur on the same account. I therefore
addressed a letter to Commander Litchfield, R.N , of H.M S. u Sphinx ” which
was about to leave Karachi (enclosure 3), asking him to visit Sur and A 1 Khadra
en route to Maskat, and, if possible, to obtain possession of the arms. An
account of his visits and of the unfriendly reception which the “ Sphinx ”