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Coll 6/67(6) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar: Trucial Coast Oil Concessions' [‎154v] (315/402)

The record is made up of 1 file (195 folios). It was created in 30 Jun 1940-30 Mar 1948. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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4
(1939).
be
in
n q nr! from feel in a - resentment at the arbitral y manner
e difficult to prevent Ibn Smid aI f(j i n the event of an international
which his claims had been trea ^ Ma j esty ’s Government s enemies to
emergency it would be all tne easiei igf ti of his territorial claims if
m fiaLce Ibn Saud by a ^ dghip Great B ^^ n .
he abandoned his traditional }»l ^ whole question might be discut d
letter concluded with a suggesti office and 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. at an
orally between representatives oi the forei 0
informal meeting. suggestion and as a result of the divergence
11. In pursuance ’^f^^ween 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. and the Foreign
of opinion on this mattei wh ^nd February, 1939, between representatives of
Office, a meeting was held on vi ew to finding some method of
the Foreign Office and ^efodia ^ ^ {rom reaching a
preventing the negotiatio ma( j e t j ie representative of the Foreign
Offic^thafan offer should be made to Ibn Sand to submit the question of the
Office that an onei suuu , an( j t i ie representatives of the India
south-eastern houndaries ^ WO uld state their proposals in writing,
SlfwoSb. pre p^d, in cLEltMion wi.h ,h,
Gnveram^of Indinco wn^d^thwn^ informa| i ctter was ^ n t by the Foreign
Office to 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. setting out ideas for a procedure whereby the question
St be orevented from reaching deadlock, and discussing various difficulties
regarding the scope and nature of arbitration and the choice of the arbitrator.
It was pointed out that, in this question, His Majesty’s Government stood m
relation to the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi in two separate capacities—as the Power
which was internationally responsible for his actions, and as the Power which
was responsible to him only for the Khor-el-Odeid. The fact that His Majesty s
Government told the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi in 1906 that they regarded certain
areas as lying in his territory did not constitute proof that that area did lie m
his territory, or invalidate any claims which a third party— e.g., Saudi Arabia—
might have to it; and if that party put forward these claims, His Majesty s
Government in their capacity as the Power responsible for Abu Dhabi must,
even out of merely neighbourly good feeling, take all responsible steps to reach
a just settlement without regard to the difficulties in which their actions might
involve them in their capacity as guarantor. In the second case, it was suggested
that, if His Majesty’s Government could not grant Ibn Sand his request or
even offer him a procedure by which he stood a chance of getting what he asked
if he could make out any adequate case without breaking the pledge made to a
neighbouring sheikh, His Majesty’s Government would have to find some
method of compensating the sheikh in other directions. With regard to the
nature of the pledge given in 1906 by His Majesty’s Government to the Sheikh
of Abu Dhabi, it seemed to the Foreign Office to be clearly a pledge on the part
of His Majesty’s Government to use their best endeavours to prevent the
occupation by any other ruler of the area of undefined extent adjoining the
Khor-el-Odeid. But the form of His Majesty’s Government’s endeavours would
necessarily vary with the circumstances, and if, as a result of the employment
of diplomatic methods, including, it might he, arbitration or mediation, the third
party could make a justifiable claim to the area, it did not seem that His
Majesty’s Government would remain under an obligation to resist by forcible
methods the occupation of the area by the third party; His Majesty’s Govern
ment could not do more for their client than they could do for themselves in
similar circumstances, and it was suggested that the client similarly could not
expect His Majesty’s Government to do more on his behalf than the intrinsic
merits of his case permitted. It was also suggested that, if Ibn Baud wished to
dispute the legal claim of the Sheikh of Abu Hhabi, and to claim that he was in
law the owner of the territory, the 1906 pledge could not possibly mean that His
Majesty s Government were bound to resist Ibn Baud by force and to refuse to
submit the legal question to arbitration, which would be the normal course. If
18 Majesty s Government did so, it would be quite inconsistent with their
continual pi of ess ions of attachment in principle to pacific settlement of inter-
nfitronaJ disputes. In conclusion, the Foreign Office asked that the Sheikh of
on Dhabi siiouId be warned that His Majesty’s Government might find it
necessary to agree that the question of the frontier, including the section near
\ oi-el-Odeid. should be submitted to some form of peaceful settlement, such as

About this item

Content

This volume concerns British policy regarding the south-eastern boundaries of Saudi Arabia, specifically its border with Qatar.

The correspondence and memoranda near the beginning of the volume discuss from a British perspective the origins and recent history of the boundary dispute, which is described as having been in abeyance since 1938; much of the later correspondence is concerned with whether the British should make renewed attempts to reach an agreement with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] .

References are made to various existing and proposed boundary lines, the most recent of the latter is the 'Riyadh line' (the name given to the boundary proposed by the British to the Saudi Government in November 1935, referred to elsewhere as the 'final offer').

Notable correspondents include the following: 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. (Charles Geoffrey Prior, succeeded by William Rupert Hay); the 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. , Bahrain (Reginald George Alban, Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, and Cornelius James Pelly); His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Stanley R Jordan, succeeded by Laurence Barton Grafftey-Smith); officials of the Foreign Office, 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. , the Government of India's External Affairs Department, and the Ministry of Fuel and Power (Petroleum Division); representatives of the United States' State Department, Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited, Petroleum Concessions Limited, and the Iraq Petroleum Company respectively.

Related matters of discussion include:

  • Ibn Saud's claims regarding the south-eastern frontiers of Saudi Arabia, particularly those relating to Jebel Nakhsh [Khashm an Nakhsh, Qatar] and Khor-el-Odeid [Khawr al ‘Udayd, Qatar].
  • Reports in 1941 of a rumour that the Shaikh of Qatar [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī] and Ibn Saud have reached an agreement regarding the Saudi-Qatar boundary.
  • The likelihood of oil prospecting either near or within the disputed territory, and its implications for the territorial dispute.
  • British concerns in 1947 regarding the possibility of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) initiating drilling operations in the seabed near to the disputed territory.
  • The precise location of proposed drillings by Petroleum Concessions Limited in the Qatar Peninsula.
  • A reported complaint in 1947 from the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi [Shaikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan] that Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited has laid buoys in his territorial waters.
  • Whether the British should permit or impede a proposed survey in Qatar by Petroleum Concessions Limited, which is thought likely to provoke protests from Ibn Saud.

Also included are three maps depicting the eastern and south eastern parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).

Extent and format
1 file (195 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 195; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.

Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 6/67(6) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar: Trucial Coast Oil Concessions' [‎154v] (315/402), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2139, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049276752.0x000074> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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