Coll 6/45 'Nejd-Transjordan Frontier Affairs.' [‎19r] (44/1040)

EASTERN (General).
-CONFIDENTIAL.
April 26, 1934.
Section 2.
[E 2593/2593/34]
No. 1.
Sir F. Humphrys to Sir John Simon.-(Received April 26.)
(No. 185.)
Sir
. ..the honour to report that His Highness the Amir Abdullah
arrived m Bagdad from Amman on the afternoon of the 1st April, accompanied
^ is younger son, the Amir Naif, and his principal private secretary, Sheikh
I uad Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. A1 Khatib.
^ 16 ^ay I called on His Highness at the palace. During
the course of our conversation I congratulated him on the great improvement
which he had succeeded in bringing about in the relations between Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan
and Saudi Arabia, and expressed the hope that any misunderstandings which
still lemained would soon be settled. The Amir echoed this hope and said that
he would continue to work to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the
two Arab States. I received the impression, however, that His Highness was
not speaking to me with his usual frankness.
3. On the 6th April His Highness lunched at the Embassy and in the
afternoon was present at a small reception given by King Ghazi, to which Sir
Edward Ellington and the Air Officer Commanding were also invited. On the
following Sunday he left Bagdad for Amman.
4. The declared purpose of His Highness’s visit was to see his brother,
King Ali, whose health has recently been far from good. It may, however, be
safely assumed that many matters of wider significance than the ex-King’s
health were discussed with King Ghazi, King Ali, and other members of the
Hashimite family now in Bagdad. Moreover, the fact that the at one time
notorious Akhwan rebel, Farhan-bin-Mashhur (see page 34 of Annual Report
for 1930), was present in Bagdad at the same time as the Amir Abdullah, and
that on his return the Amir took in his suite the fugitive Ataibah chief,
Naif-bin-Humaid, will probably, when reported to Mecca by the Saudi Legation,
give rise to profound suspicion of His Highness’s activities here and may even
provoke a protest.
5. The Amir’s visit has received little comment in the local press, but one
nationalist journal professed to see a significant connexion between this event
and Sir Arthur Wauchope’s private visit to me, which took place only a few
days earlier. The deduction made was that a political development of great
importance to the Arabs was about to take place, which might well be the union
of Palestine and Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan under the rule of the Amir Abdullah.
6. I am sending copies of this despatch to His Majesty s High Commissioner
for Palestine and Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan at Jerusalem and to His Majesty s Minister
at Jedda.
I have, &c.
F. H. HUMPHRYS.