Coll 30/172 'Attitude of Ibn Saud (Saudi Arabia) towards Arab rulers in Persian Gulf and P. Gulf affairs.' [‎18v] (37/66)

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Tanura may be less successful than was hoped; suspicion of Iraq; and appre
hension at the movement in Koweit which has resulted in the establishment of a
council to assist in the government of that territory. It is early to give a decided
opinion about Ras Tanura, and it might perhaps be justifiable to draw the opposite
conclusion, viz., that the possession of a port of his own made Ibn Saud believe
that few, if any, imports would now come in through Koweit; but it is certain ^
that the other two considerations have had some influence on Ibn Saud’s mind.
The course of events in Koweit has not been in accordance with his conception of
constitutional procedure in an Arab and a Moslem State. Some time ago he told
me that he listened to the advice of his people and then governed in accordance
with the principles of Islam, and he assented to my suggestion that his country
was under a religious constitution. There is no doubt that, although he takes his
own decisions, he does listen to the opinions of the ulema and of the tribal sheikhs;
but he thinks it wrong that the Sheikh of Koweit should have to listen to a “ self-
appointed " council containing elements which, in Ibn Saud's opinion, are far
from having the necessary prestige or position. But, says Ibn Saud, it would have
been quite proper for the sheikh to summon men of position to form a council and
to ask their advice.
4. I must repeat that Ibn Saud apologised, when I made some deprecating
remark, for speaking about the internal affairs of Bahrein and Koweit, and
explained that he was thinking of his own position, which might be affected by
that of his neighbours.
5. Ibn Saud was indignant at what he had heard of Iraqi designs on Koweit.
The efforts made by the Iraqi Government this year to draw tighter the com
mercial, financial and military bonds with Saudi Arabia have not weakened his
suspicions, and their desire to have a port at Koweit—perhaps as a prelude to
absorption—is the last straw. He did not refer to Iraqi propaganda elsewhere,
but it was no doubt present to his mind, for Arabic newspapers have referred
more than once to the populations of the minor Arab States in the Gulf as looking
towards Iraq. Ibn Saud’s jealousy of Iraq has been exacerbated recently by the
rather flamboyant statements made by the Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs
about Palestine on his return from London, and just as he is trying to prove, by
his negotiations in connexion with the forthcoming London discussions, that, as
he has claimed in so many words, it is he and not “ certain others ” who is the
leader of the Arab world, so he may be wishing to counteract Iraqi influence in
the Gulf by concluding the Koweit Agreement, thereby enhancing the position of
the sheikh and emphasising the importance of the relations between Koweit and
Saudi Arabia.
6. Ibn Saud made no reference to the minor Arab rulers during my visit to
Riyadh, but Fuad Hamza asked me, obviously on instructions and with much
earnestness, about the possibility of a solution of the eastern frontier difficulty.
Moreover, when the King was deprecating hostile action against the Yemeni forces
in Shabwa, Fuad said that our action would inevitably be linked up in the public
mind with what is regarded as our “ forward policy ” in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . When
called upon to define this policy he could only say that some Arabs attributed
the establishment of the council in Koweit to the British, who had found the
sheikh too independent and desired to have a more subservient instrument, and
refer to a movement in the direction of councils in some of the minor sheikhdoms.
Fuad did not pretend that he himself held any such belief, and admitted that he
had brought back from Koweit, where he stayed on his way from Bagdad, a more
reasonable theory; but it is admitted that His Majesty’s Government have thought
it necessary to extend and strengthen their control in the Hadhramaut, and Arabs
cannot be blamed if they look for signs of a similar process nearer home.
Ibn Saud has no love for the minor sheikhs, least of all for the Sheikh of Qatar,
but a general movement towards the reduction of the status of Arab rulers could
not be pleasing to him. His low opinion of the young men in the Hejaz, who are
supposed to desire the modernisation of Saudi Arabia, has been expressed more
than once, and he would naturally regret the appearance at his door, in however
rudimentary a form, of a system which he is resolved not to see established in his
own country.
7. Finally, in spite of his general desire to work with His Majesty’s
Government, and of his assertion that, on grounds of security, he would rather
have the British as his neighbours than the Amir Abdullah or the Iraqi Govern
ment, he would certainly not welcome an increase in British control in the