'File 5/2 III Kuwait Neutral Zone' [‎161r] (326/779)

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work (as will appear below) will be upon the mainland.
Mr. Packer will arrange for his house and office
accommodation on his arrival, meanwhile occupying Major
Holmes' house. Wo are at the moment taking in hand,
through the Bombay Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company, the recruitment of certain Indian personnel,
which we think will be necessary for our office, our Qatar
drilling programme, and our Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. geological
programme. Wc have sent you under separate letter
particulars of the Indian personnel we propose to import,
and are anxious to observe the proper formalities in this
connection. In the event of our importing a limited
number of rig- coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. from Iraq for work on Qatar, we
shall obtain the necessary permits in the same way, but
shall, of course, do our own recruiting in Iraq. The
Company's interim Agent, pending Mr. Packer's establishment,
is Haji Yus if ICanu.
The Qatar Concession remains, at the moment of
writing, the property of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company,
who obtained it early in 1935, and followed this by signing
a Political Agreement with H.M.G. Petroleum Concessions
Ltd. has now formed a subsidiary, Petroleum Development
(Qatar) Ltd., with the object of taking over the Concession
from the A.I.O.C. This proposal has, within the last day
or two, received 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. consent, and letters to the
Shaikh of Qatar, proposing that he agree to the trojisfer,
arc b^ing sent by the A.I.O.C. Abadan and, we understand,
by uhe 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. . The text of Abadan's letter
will first have been approved by the Resident. P.D.(Qatar)
Ltd, expects, on transfer of the Concession, to assume all
the/