Coll 30/52(1) 'Persian Gulf. Diaries: Bahrain News and Intelligence Reports' [‎34r] (69/1077)

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in the presence of a large gathering of Arab and
European ladies.
(ii) The surrender of the Belgian Army and the
evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk
have had a depressing effect on public opinion. Some
of the foreign elements in Bahrain appear to have con
vinced themselves that the British will soon be forced
to leave Bahrain and both the Holis Group of people who migrated from the Arab shores of the Gulf to the Persian side over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many of whom have since returned to the Arabian Peninsula. (Bahrain-born
people of Persian origin) and some of the Nejdis have
been discussing (separately) whose protection should
be sought when the British go. Naturally the thoughts
of each party turn to its own country of irigin.
A section of the Holis Group of people who migrated from the Arab shores of the Gulf to the Persian side over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many of whom have since returned to the Arabian Peninsula. and other more recent
Persian immigrants have been rather too free in expres
sing their pleasure at German successes, but though
they have succeeded in causing some despondency in
the towns and will need to be dealt with, they have
also produced desirable reactions in sharpening the
dislike and distrust of themselves which is shared by
the Shaikhs, the town Arabs and the Bahama.
62* Oil
An extraordinary report was received on the
20th May from the Master of the S.S. "Barpeta” (un
fortunately after the ship had sailed from Bahrain)
that he had passed a large quantity of oil in the sea
about 15 miles North East of Halul Island. The existence
of a wide oil patch was confirmed by Royal Air Force
aircraft and further enquiries made from the S.S.
"Barpeta” in Basra elicited the information that the
oil was welling up as though from a submarine n gusher :r
forming a mushroom 3’ in diameter and 2 s 6 ,,M high. It
is unfortunate that the Barpeta did not pick up a few
bucketfuls of this oil and bring them to Bahrain
for test.
Owing to other preoccupations it has not yet
been feasible to arrange a fuller investigation on the
surface but this will be done as soon as possible.
63 . Saudi Arabia
The somewhat ill-conceived project for the cons
truction of a 25,000 barrel Refinery at Has Tanura is
not quite such a certainty as it seemed to be. At any
rate the despatch of construction material from America
has been held up pending further consideration.
64 * Qatar
It is reported that a squabble occurred on the
30th May between minor members of the Oasim and Ahmad
sections of the Qatar Shaikhly family. Shaikh Hamad,
the heir-apparent, tried to turn this into a major
issue and demanded that the Ahmad party should bither
be /-