Coll 6/4(2) 'Asir: Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Yemen.' [‎346r] (698/796)

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 5805/759/25]
No. 1.
September SO, 1
Section 1
Memorandum respecting Saudi-Yemeni Relations.
(Confidential.)
I HAD a conversation this morning with Sheikh Hafiz Wahba, assisted by
M. Zada, about the Najran situation. I explained that I was puzzled as to the
exact significance of the expression “ Najran,” and as to the precise nature of the
present situation. As regards the latter, Fuad Bey Hamza had expressly told me
in June that the operations of the Yemeni forces, while giving ground for anxiety,
were confined to what was admittedly Yemeni territory. He had distinguished
between “ Najran ” as being Saudi and the Beni Yam as being Yemeni, and, on
my pressing him, had identified the admittedly Yemeni territory with the
geographical name of “ Jauf.” The last information he had given me before we
both left Jedda was that Seif-ul-Islam Ahmed and his brother, operating against
the local tribes, had sustained a reverse and been driven back, but were preparing
a counter-attack. It was now suggested that the Yemenis were in Saudi territory,
but I could not find any precision as to when they had altered the-situation, as
described to me by Fuad Bey, by crossing the alleged frontier.
2. Sheikh Hafiz admitted that the use of the name “Najran” in Arab
geographical parlance was very vague. It merely meant the area on the confines
of the Yemen, but could not be defined as having geographical boundaries. He
admitted also that the 1927 agreement was an oral arrangement, but it was an
agreement which the Imam himself had invoked on several occasions and notably
when asserting his claim to Jebel Arwa in 1931. The sheikh and M. Zada
agreed that there had been a definite change in the situation since the early
summer. The Yemenis had succeeded in their operations against the tribes, and
flushed with this success, had pushed on into Saudi territory, advancing to the
neighbourhood of Badar, without meeting with opposition, and then stopping
short. Sheikh Hafiz’s first telegrams regarding the actual presence of the
Yemenis in Saudi territory had reached him about the beginning of August.
The Imam’s attitude, according to M. Zada, was that Ibn Sand had no officials or
forces in the invaded area, and that he (the Imam) was free to do what he liked
there.
3. Sheikh Hafiz agreed with me that, as regards the frontier, a distinction
must be made between (a) the frontier between Najran and the Yemen, which, in
the Saudi view, was settled in 1927; and (b) the frontier between what is now
called Asir Tihama {i.e., the late Idrisi’s territory) and the Yemen, which was
settled in 1931. I did not gather that the frontier at {a) was expressly confirmed
in the 1931 negotiations, which had turned only on Jebel Arwa, although, as
stated above, the Imam had invoked the 1927 agreement when claiming
Jebel Arwa. Sheikh Hafiz agreed that Saada was Yemeni, but said that Waila
was Saudi.
4. I confined the conversation to an elucidation of the facts, as viewed by
the Saudi Government, and avoided any mention of the merits of the quarrel or
Ibn Sand’s military preparations. Sheikh Hafiz and M. Zada, while describing
the situation as recorded above, appeared to share the general ignorance
regarding the exact geography of the region.
* B b r ANDREW RYAN.
September 30, 1933.