Coll 6/4(2) 'Asir: Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Yemen.' [‎64r] (134/796)

A
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
X).
53^1
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
February 13, 1934.
Section 1.
No. 1.
• 4 ^
1TO
[E 978/79/25]
Sir A. Ryan to Sir John Simon.—{Received February 13.)
Jedda, January 23, 1934.
’ WITH reference to previous correspondence ending with my telegram No. 9
of the 21st January, I have the honour to transmit herewith a translation of
the article on Saudi-Yemen relations, which appeared in the Mecca Umm-al-Qura
of the 16th January, a number produced exceptionally on that day in anticipation
of the three days’ festival which follows Ramadan. Having regard to Fuad Bey
Hamza’s statements to me on the 9th and 16th January, as reported by telegraph,
I have seldom seen a more curious publication. Fuad Bey had told me on the
former date that Ibn Saud had made a fresh gesture of conciliation and that the
Imam’s reply to the King’s latest proposals was awaited. He told me at midday
on the 16th January, by telephone from Mecca, that this position was unchanged.
Yet the Umm-al-Qura had produced that very morning the obviously inspired
article, with which I am now dealing. . . tj ;
2 It is pretty clear that the question of Yemeni activities m the Beni
Malik and Abadil area has come into the forefront of the dispute between
Ibn Saud and the Imam. My maps and books of reference do not enable me
to locate that area, but it would appear to be somewhere m the mountains between
Jizan and Sada. As I stated in paragraph 3 of my despatch of the 10th January,
Fuad Bey started his conversation with me on the 9th January by a reterence
to the Imam’s intrigues among the Beni Malik, but he presently minimised their
importance. It is significant that, in the account given by Colonel Reilly see
Foreign Office telegram No. 6 of the 17th January, of proposals said to have been
made by the Imam, he is repFesented as having asked for the neutralisation ot
the Beni Malik. It is also significant that mention is made m the Aden
Intelligence Summarv of the 20th December of a reported application by the
Imam’s commander at Haradh for sanction to march against the Jebel Beni
3 " If the Umm-al-Qura article be taken at its face value, it reads, almost
as though the heir apparent had gone off on his own, especially as it is implied
that he started without a wireless set. I confess that this interpretation, though
it would rationalise the article, is intrinsically improbable. The Amir baud
is reputed to be a bit of a fanatic, and his published appeal to the King at the
time of the Ibn Rifada affair was an almost reproachful cry of Let s up
and at ’em ”; but I have no other reason to suppose that he would dety a parent
so strenuous as Ibn Saud. . , ,
4 Mr. Philby came to see me on the 22nd January, having returned on
the 19th January 'from spending the festival in Mecca He does not pretend
to be in the inner secrets of the Saudi Government, and he admitted that the
situation was most puzzling. He pooh-poohed the Umm-al-Qura article, however,
and said that he had not read it, and from what he had heard did not think
it worth reading, and maintained stoutly that the heir apparent had not ielt
Riyadh until the 15th January, when he had himself sent me, through
Mrs. Philby, the news of the Amir’s departure. I insisted that an obviously
inspired article of this kind in a paper like the Umm-al-Qura °. ou ld not be
dismissed so lightly, especially as it could be construed 80 J 11 . , th ®
indicated in the preceding paragraph^ Mr. Philby suggested that it was Ml
eve-wash He admitted that it could have no value as eye-wash for the Imam,
and suggested rather feebly that it was intended to reassure public opinion in
this country. I observed that, if that were the object, the Saudi Government
had set about it in a very extraordinary fashion. i
5 Mr Philby gave me two pieces of information which, if confirmed, are
more important tlial his opinions, for, though not in the inner secret, he has
[31 n—1]