Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎159r] (322/1062)

possible for Xbn Saud^em^raS^tooTerThrowthl fheiii? USain ’ "' Mcl1 made U
us (By us he presumably mefnt V/in e^ta^aud T^a h
iSo a Ib:ir m WaS ’ lle SiUd ’ a ^ proposition toZI^S
. At , ^t 6 .™ omeI ? 1 ’ J lle Inia,rl w »s not saying anything about connuerin£r the
Hejaz, but if war broke out, and he conquered Asir where he has great Muence
tithou an Xr 6 Ibrf laud X X 7 C j ti6S WOuld dro P -toilslap aW
WllllOUL dll LHUj b. -LD21 feailtl WRS wea]?: and nnnnmilnr* in flnn TT^,,- , i-,
Akhwan had suffered frightfully in the recent operations in Ash-. The very name
of Asir was now anathema m Nejd, and it would be difficult to raise any kind 7a
force m hejd, if fresh hostilities were now to break out in that area.
tt • H ‘ S H i^ n r, “X s ?y that the She rifs had great influence in the
Hejaz, and that lie himself had recently received letters from the Southern
Hejaz and Asir. He had letters from one whose name I think he said was Ibn
Abda and trom the Zeramq and other tribesmen of the Red Sea littoral of Asir
These people had remained neutral in the Idris v. Ibn Sand rebellion. Many
of them wiote to him now to ask his advice. They said that they were not Greatly
concerned whether Ibn Sand retained the rule of the country or not,' but the first
thing which they wanted to know was whether there was any chance of a return
of the Sherifs. If Shakir could promise tlrnm any support, such as that of the
British, which gave any hopes of success, the)' would be ready to declare for the
Sherifs. Failing this, they would he obliged to choose the next best from amongst
the other competing rulers.^ The Amir mentioned the names of several tribes,
but as I was not familiar with them, I cannot recollect them for certain, except
the Beni Shahi’ and the Zeraniq.
His Highness continued that he was unable, of course, to answer these
letters or take any action in any matters of this nature, owing to the attitude of
the British and their ever ready suspicions that he was intriguing against Ibn
Sand. But at any rate, he pointed out, both Tbn Sand and the Sherifs were allies
of the British, whereas the Imam Yahya most emphatically was not. The inter
ference of the British had prevented the Sherifs replacing Ibn Sand in the Hejaz,
with the result that Ibn Sand’s obvious weakness was now tempting the Imam
Yahya to take the offensive. It really looked as if Ibn Sand would soon collapse.
The British did not offer him active support, hut merely limited their help to
preventing the Sherifs from over-throwing him. It seemed probable that the
result would he that the Imam Yahya, over whom the British had no control would
step in and take the Hejaz himself, to the exclusion of all Great Britain’s allies.
If the Sherifs were to recover the Holy Cities, His Highness continued, they
could easily come to an agreement with Ibn Sand, who would remain the ruler of
Nejd. This was the natural arrangement, only upset by the insanity of King
Husain. But suiy arrangement would he better than allowing the Imam Yahya
to come in.
His Highness then said that he had intended to speak to me on this subject
for a considerable time, as also to Mr. Kirkhride, the acting British Resident, hut
that he had hesitated and procrastinated until he heard that I was about to leave,
when he made up his mind to speak immediately. He hoped that I would have
an opportunity in London to make known what he had said, to His Majesty’s
Government. He had intended also to tell Mr. Kirkbride. Should he do so,
or would I be seeing Mr. Kirkbride f 1 replied that I had already said good
bye to Mr. Kirkhride, and had not time to see him again, as my car was at the
doer and I was catching Imperial Airways. I promised, however, to submit the
gist of what he had said, to the Colonial Office in London.
He then remarked “ It is obvious now, that Feisal is the only man in the
Sherifian family who can do a job of work
I enquired whether King Feisal’s views agreed with those which His Ligh
ness had just expressed to me. He replied emphatically that their views wsre
absolutely identical. I said that, in that case it seemed probable that King
Feisal would already have explained them to His Majesty’s Governraen ^ as it
had just returned from Europe. His Highness replied that he did not im() Vv
if the King had done so or not, though he believed that His Majesty had no secre
from hisi friends the English (!!!).