File 1166/1925 'Arabia: Nejd; negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Iraq-Nejd question and Trans-Jordan boundary; Sir G Clayton's mission; Bahra agreement, 2nd November, 1925' [‎135v] (277/769)

that day to preparing other subjects for debate and writing my record
of discussions up to date, so I begged that he would study his own
convenience in the matter.
Ibn Sa'ud expressed his gratitude, saying that he was glad of the
opportunity of visiting Mecca and attending the Friday prayers
more especially as his two younger sons, whom he had not seen f 0 J
over a year, were expected to arrive in Mecca from Riadh on that
day.
The meeting ended at 10.30 a.m.
Fifth Meeting.
The fifth meeting took place on Thursday, the 15th October, at
9 a.m., with the same attendance as previously.
I proposed that we should go through the outstanding questions
with regard to ‘Iraq which were not settled at the various confer
ences which had taken place. We had as a basis the Muhammara
Convention, signed in May, 1922 (7th Ramadan, 1340), which was
followed by two protocols concluded in 1923 (1341). Subsequently
the Kuweit Conference was held, which had not led to any definite
conclusion, but at which agreement had been reached on certain
points. I wished to give a brief r^sumd of what had happened at
that Conference.
It was agreed (a) that tribes raiding the territory of another
Government should be punished and that the Chiefs of the offending
tribes would be held responsible; (b) that there should be no direct
correspondence on official or political matters between one Govern
ment and Chiefs or officials of the other Government; (c) that the
armed forces of one country should not pursue refugees across the
frontier between the two countries except by mutual agreement be
tween the two Governments; (d) that Sheikhs holding official positions
and possessing flags should not display them when in the territory
of the other country. I believed that those were all the points on
which agreement had been reached.
Sheikh Hafiz said that the first point had only been agreed upon
with the proviso that it would be necessary to arrange for the resti
tution or extradition of offenders and to make raiding a punishable
offence. Agreement on the part of the Nejd delegates was made
conditional on an extradition treaty.
I then explained that the next point was one upon which no agree
ment had been arrived at; it dealt with the return of persons or
tribes who had fled from one territory to the other. This included
the question of extradition, and was the principal matter at issue
with which they had to deal, being the one on which most of the
othci differences of opinion had hinged. There was, however, one
other question about armed forces. It had been agreed that either
side could call up for military service those of their tribesmen who
might be residing at the time in the territory of the other Govern
ment, and that no objection would be offered to those tribesmen
responding to that call provided they were put under no compulsion
‘^q Government had, however, insisted that they
s lould take with them their families and belongings, but this was
not agreed to by the Government of Nejd. There was another point