File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎40r] (84/898)

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one Dr. Sinkievicz, the head of the Moslem community in Poland The obiects of
the mission were apparently to inform Ibn Sand of his formal recognition by Poland
to establish relations and to make some sort of commercial agreement. The envoy
JI J ^ ls speech, used fulsome language of the King’s reputation among the Moslems
of Poland (a fraction, according to the u Statesman’s Year Book,” of the 3 per cent,
of miscellaneous elements m the population, totalling altogether 85,873 souls) as
e most pious King and greatest defender of religion.” Comparisons were freely
u^awn on both sides between the Arab and Polish nations as exponents of heroism
and votanes of liberty. It is not known what, if any, arrangements were made on
the lowei plane of commerce. There is at least one Pole in the country, a chauffeur
who was engaged by the Emir Eeisal, embraced Islam as casual du metier, and after
vicissitudes due to the newness of his conversion and other causes, was allowed to
drive to Mecca.
8- The Netherlands representative, Mf. A' an de Mfeulen, informed his colleagues
on the 26th May that the Dutch consulate had been transformed into a Legation, and
he himself appointed Charge d’Affaires. Of the eight agencies, &e., maintained
by foreign Powers at Jedda,six are now diplomatic missions, viz., the Soviet Legation
(Minister, M. Touracouloff, an agreeable Moslem from Turkestan), the British
Legation, the Turkish Legation (“ Diplomatic Representative ” of status otherwise
undefined, Seni Bey, a Constantinople Turk of the old school, modernised), the
Lrench consulate (still so-called, although M. Maigret is Charge d’Affaires, accredited
as such to the King), the Persian Legation (diplomatic representative and Charge
d’Affaires, Habibulla Khan Hoveida), and the newly-made Dutch Legation. The
Italian and Egyptian missions remain consulates.
Air Questions.
9. On the 4th May the Emil Eeisal, the Acting Minister for Loreign Affairs,
addressed a strong protest to the Legation because a British aeroplane had visited
Darin Island on the 13th April, and had flown over Nejd territory, coming and going
without previous notice. The Emir based his protest partly on a statement that the
incident had confused public opinion, and had been reported with exaggeration in
the Egyptian press. On enquiry, it was found that the visit complained of was
that of a Royal Air Lorce flying boat, which called at Darin at considerable
inconvenience on a return voyage from India, to provide the Hejaz-Nejd Air Force
with spare parts and help in connexion with its wireless installation. Sir Andrew
Ryan explained matters to Fuad Hamza orally, and suggested to His Majesty’s
Government that any formal reply in writing should be explanatory rather than
definitely apologetic.
10. The incident shows how ready the Hejaz Government are to take offence
and to make their real or pretended susceptibility felt. On the 28th May Sir Andrew
Ryan made a general statement to Sheikh Fuad Hamza, which, he said, he intended
to confirm more briefly to the King, regarding His Majesty’s Government’s attitude
towards matters in this country. The terms of the statement were {a) that any
appearance of intervention by His Majesty’s Government in the affairs of the Hejaz-
Nejd Air Force should be regarded in its true light, as being solely due to their ,
desire to promote the success of a force, which was undoubtedly Ibn Sand’s own
concern, but which they had helped him to create; and (5) that, while scrupulously
respectful of Ibn Saud’s sovereign rights, His Majesty’s Government were anxious
to see him come into the modern movement of all civilised Powers in the direction
of facilitating the development of international aerial communication by a liberal
policy in regard to flying over. Sir Andrew Ryan begged the Hejaz Government
to receive any representations which he might from time to time have to make (e.g., in
connexion with pearling flights between Basra and Bahrein or eventual air routes
on a greater scale), not as isolated attempts at encroachment, but as leading up to
the ideal he had described.
11. One of the things which provided the opportunity for this statement was
the action of His Majesty’s Government in advising the King to dismiss one of the
pilots of the Hejaz-Nejd Air Force, whose drunken misconduct on one occasion and
generally subversive attitude was threatening the moral and discipline of the force.
Following on explanations given to Sheikh Fuad Hamza at the instance of the
Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the man was duly discharged as from the
20th May, but Ibn Saud elected not to engaged a successor for the time being.
[166 g—2] b 2