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Coll 6/58 'Asir: Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Yemen.' [25r] (56/908)
The record is made up of 1 volume (449 folios). It was created in Jun 1914-31 May 1934. It was written in English and French. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
[81 aa—3]
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 2535/79/25]
■'April 24, 1934.
Section 3.
Sir A. Ryan to Sir John Simon.—(Received April 24.)
(No. 91.)
Sir, Jedda, April 4, 1934.
WITHIN twenty-four hours of drafting my despatch No. 88 of the
31st March, regarding the Saudi-Yemen situation, 1 received an intimation that
Sheikh Yusuf Yasin had been appointed Acting Deputy Minister for Foreign
Affairs. I gave you in my telegram No. 49 of the 2nd April the main points of
our conversation when he paid me his first visit in his new capacity that
morning.
2 . I made very rough notes of the ten telegrams exchanged between the two
rulers, following on telegrams from the King to the Imam announcing that he
had ordered the heir apparent to advance. Although I am keeping a record of
them here, I think it unnecessary to burden you with the details of this wordy
correspondence. Its chief characteristic is the unrelenting firmness of the King
in stating and restating his demands and refusing to be put off by any suggestion
that he should stay his hand without obtaining complete satisfaction.
3 . As for the demands themselves, there is little to add to the summary in
my telegram No. 49 of the 2nd April, except that the King made a special point
of the release of the hostages taken by the Imam in the Faifa-Beni Malik area.
The King bases himself expressly on the agreement, which he says was come to
by his delegates at Sana in 1927-28, and on the agreement of the 31st December
regarding Arwa. He claims that by the former the Imam agreed to leave to him
everything north of Waila, but offers for the sake of peace to agree to a
neutralisation or partition of the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Najran proper, as distinct from the area
Badr-Hadada-Habuna, which he describes as being occupied by the Ikhwan. He
repudiates a suggestion, apparently made by the Imam, that the Yemeni invasion
of Najran was justified by correspondence subsequent to the Arwa settlement.
4. The statement that the Badr-Hadada-Habuna area is now held by Ihn
Saud was new to me. I do not think I had previously heard of Hadada, which
appears to be east of Badr. Sheikh Yusuf could not explain what had happened
in this area. I surmise that the Ikhwan have held it since December, when it was
admitted that certain of the King’s sympathisers had joined forces with the local
tribesmen, but denied that they were organised Saudi troops.
5. The King’s telegrams emphasise and confirm his previous promise of
pardon to the rebels in the Faifa-Beni Malik area.
6 . In one of the earlier telegrams the Imam begged the King to beware of
opening the door for foreign intrigue. The King, in his reply, said that he was
alive to this danger, and took credit for having held his hand when he learned
that the Imam was engaged in negotiations with His Majesty s Government.
When reading these passages. Sheikh Itusuf said that the King had specially
charged him to explain the references to the xYngloAemen negotiations in his
speech of the 22nd March and in his correspondence with the Imam. They meant
that he had wished at the time to avoid any appearance of putting pressure on
the Imam not to conclude an agreement with His Majesty s Government.
7. In my comments at the end of the conversation I expressed gi atification
at the King’s explanation, saying that I had noticed the expression foreign
intrigue.” I developed in some detail the thesis that, whether people liked oi
disliked the policy of His Majesty’s Government, it was open and abo\e boar d.
Since the Great War they had sought to cultivate friendship with ad Arab 111 e,s
in their respective spheres and to promote friendship among them, ihen policy
was entirely free from intrigue. I recalled once more the circumstances in vine r
the British mission had been sent to Sana.
8 . When urging that it might be prudent to avoid, if possible, any entry
into admittedly Yemeni territory, I made it clear that 1 was not speaking m the
interest of the Imam, but in that of Ibn Saud. I had heard, I said, not from a
About this item
- Content
This volume concerns relations between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Most of the correspondence is focussed on British policy in response to the Saudi-Yemeni conflict.
Related matters that feature in the correspondence include the following:
- Reports in March 1934 that peace negotiations between Saudi and Yemeni representatives have failed.
- The British response to reports of the evacuation of Hodeida by Yemeni forces, which include the dispatch of HMS Penzance and proposals to fly aircraft over the town.
- Discussion as to whether the British Government should invite Italian naval cooperation regarding Hodeida.
- The presence of HMS Penzance , and later HMS Enterprise , at Hodeida.
- The state of affairs in Hodeida (as reported by the Commander of HMS Enterprise ) following its occupation by Saudi forces.
- Saudi concerns that Italy might intervene in the conflict on the side of the Imam of Yemen.
- Discussion as to whether or not the Italian Government's decision to land troops at Hodeida and Mocha – ostensibly to protect Italian interests – constitutes an act of intervention.
- Differences of opinion between the British and Italian Governments over the sovereignty of Asir.
- Reports in May 1934 of the suspension of hostilities and the beginning of peace negotiations.
- Unfounded rumours of the death of Imam of Yemen [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn].
Notable correspondents include the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); His Majesty's Ambassador in Rome (James Eric Drummond); His Majesty's Ambassador in Bagdad [Baghdad] (Sir Francis Humphrys); the High Commissioner, Egypt (Miles Wedderburn Lampson); 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. , Aden (Bernard Rawdon Reilly); the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Philip Cunliffe-Lister); the Commander of HMS Penzance ; the Commander of HMS Enterprise ; the Senior Officer of the Red Sea Sloops; the Command-in-Chief, Mediterranean; the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the Admiralty, and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.
In addition to correspondence the volume includes copies of political intelligence summaries from the Aden Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , the Bahrain Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and the Kuwait Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. respectively, as well as a sketch map of the Arabian Peninsula.
The French material consists of two items of correspondence. The aforementioned sketch map is dated June 1914; the rest of the volume dates from 1934, with most of the material falling within April-May 1934 (a few items of correspondence date from February-March 1934).
The volume includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 3-4).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (449 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 449; 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.
An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 218-449; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/58 'Asir: Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Yemen.' [25r] (56/908), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2125, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100054977103.0x000039> [accessed 10 May 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2125
- Title
- Coll 6/58 'Asir: Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Yemen.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:35v, 37r:58v, 62r:66v, 68r:113v, 116r:130v, 133r:167v, 172r:268v, 270r:320v, 322r:368v, 371r:384v, 386r:395v, 397r:397v, 399r:399v, 400ar, 400r:401r, 402r:420v, 422r:425v, 427r:443v, 446r:446v, 447ar:447av, 448r:449v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence