File 7251/1920 Pt 3 'Arabia: Situation and Policy; Agenda for Inter Departmental Committee Meetings' [‎191v] (18/268)

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had been any communication from the of Hedjaz before this time, as he had
alleged in his conversation with the Senoussi, that he had sent some letters through
Sir Syed Ali Marghani of Soudan, Syed Mustafa replied that there had been no >
communication of the sort through the Marghani before this, except a letter through >[ r
Syed Abdul-Maltoob, a merchant of Midi, but that letter was neither couched in decent
and proper tone, nor did it bear any seal or signature of the Shereef (probably written
by some clerk), and the Idrisi did not consider it worth while to send a reply to it.
This happened more than two years back.
“ Again,” added Syed Mustafa, “ look at the extreme ingratitude and treachery of
the man in mercilessly reviling, nay, even exciting the ignorant masses, against those
very people who are the sole cause of making him ‘ His Majesty the King of Hedjaz, ’
and who, in their exceeding solicitude to please him, at times ignored the rights of their
friends (a sarcastic reference to the Kunfida affairs). In short, the fact is that the man
is overwhelmingly proud, selfish and unscrupulous, and consequently entirely untrust
worthy and faithless, and we are not going to put any faith in his profession of
friendship or terms of an agreement with him if the British Government does not
guarantee the sincerity of his intentions and the faithful observance of any conditions
agreed upon.”
* # * # #
Yesterday the Idrisi called me to his house. We took nearly two hours and a-half
in discussing .... the letters from the King of the Hedjaz and his son, the Shereef
Abdulla ....
The Idrisi told me that there was still another and more important question which
he wanted to discuss witli me that day, viz., the Shereef of Mecca and his son’s letters.
Hence I stayed on, and the following is a brief summary of the conversation which
took place in regard to the above question. The Idrisi opened the question thus :—
“ As regards the Shereef of Mecca’s request for an alliance there are two
aspects of the affair, viz. :—
“ 1. The personal aspect ;
“ 2. The religious aspect.
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“ From the personal point of view, i.e., from the standpoint of the personality of
the Shereef of Mecca and his sons, we shall never believe in any stipulations they
make, appear they ma), in whatever guise they like. They are by nature
dishonest and untrustworthy, and nothing will induce to put any faith in their
supplications. We perfectly realise why they humble themselves before us at the
present moment; they are in extreme difficuities from all sides, internally as well
as externally, but as soon as they succeed in getting their nefarious and selfish
ends they shall prove a veritable scourge to us all.
“ The religious point of view is, however, somewhat different. In order to
provide protection and peace to the sacred cities we are ready to sacrifice each and
everything we possess—our lives, our people and our resources—and therefore we
do desire to come to some such understanding with the Shereef as will secure peace,
protection and plenty to these places. But I assure you that peace and protection
of these places, as well as that of the roads leading to them and the relief and the
prosperity of the inhabitants living therein, can be secured with any degree of
surety and permanence only by the removal of the Shereef from these places and
not by keeping him there. If, however, any other method can be found po.^sible ,
which can ensure the attainment of these desirable ends with the presence of the
Shereef in these places I shall be found perfectly agreeable to it. But I am afraid
such an ideal solution of the problem is extremely difficult, if not totally impossible.
If our friend and his progeny lessen their greed a little, surrender a part of their
am jitions and assume a little more contented disposition, such a solution is likely
to be considerably facilitated. On my part, I am perfectly willing to try my best
to bring about an amicable settlement between the Shereef and ]bn Saud.”
, . He then asked me as to what the attitude of my Government was on the question of
eir a between themselves. I told him that my Government shall view it with
great satisfaction and pleasure to see all the Arab chiefs living in close amity and unison
wi 1 () t er and would not at all approve the aggression of one against the other.
• 4 . 6 i^- a • "i A 8 tfi e future of this country is closely wound up with the nature of
its relations with the British Government, I would not like to do anything which is not
m close unison with the wishes of the British Government. Hence I would like to wait