File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎223v] (451/898)

4. The fact that the Idrisi has dehnitely chosen Ibn Sand rather than the
Imam Yahya as his protector shows that Ibn baud s star is still in the ascendant.
It is further interesting to note that the Idrisi, a chieftain whose temporal power,
like that of the Senussi himself, has in part ecclesiastical origins, has not feared to
accept the overlordship of the Wahabi leader. For him, obviously, Ibn Sand is,
before anything else, King of the Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd.
5. If Ibn Sand makes good his now legal claim to suzerainty over Asir, and
succeeds in due course in getting his claim recognised by other Powers concerned
the new agreement is a distinct set-back to the spread northward of Italian influence
in Arabia. A last point is worthy of notice. I he treaty defines only in vague terms
what is the territory of Asir (a State whose boundaries in the last ten years have
shown remarkable elasticity), now placed under the guidance of Pm Sand. It has
not been possible so far to obtain further precisions, the former treaty of 1339 (1920)
with Sayyid Mohammed-el-Idrisi not having been published. In any case, that
treaty of 1339 is said not to define the Asir-Yemen marches. The present agreement
does cover, however, the frontiers “ which were, at that date, subject to the Idrisis,”
i.e., in 1339 (1920). In 1920, if I am not mistaken, the Idrisis held Hodeida, now in
the hands of the Imam Yahya.
6. The Mecca Agreement is, therefore, in a sense, a challenge to the Imam
Yahya, and, on the face of things, would make it appear inevitable that a collision
w ill, sooner or later, occur between Ibn Saud and the principal surviving rival, apart
from the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, to his sovereignty in the Arabian Peninsula.
But, on the other hand, it is fairly certain that at the present juncture Ibn Saud
has no desire to attack the Imam, and that it would be a distinct departure from his
usual wise and cautious procedure to do so. Further, there may be between these
two rulers some such pact of partition a suggestion of which was reported by the
I 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. at Aden in paragraph 1 of his news letter No. 2, dated the
28th February, 1925. According to that report, the Imam recognises Ibn Sand’s
territory as coming as far south as the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Mur, near Loheiya, while Ibn Saud, for
his part, acknowledged all the country to the south, including Hodeida, to be the
territory of the Imam. The lack of noticeable excitement in official circles here
would make some such arrangement seem very probable.
7. But, even if Asir is not for the present to bring Ibn Saud and the Imam
into serious conflict, there is in the new agreement alone no guarantee of peace for
the future, unless the King of the Hejaz and the Imam Yahya of the Yemen are
permanently reconciled. There are herein many matters between the two rulers
which need adjustment. If there is to be no real peace, the present treaty puts into
the hands of Ibn Saud an instrument which he knows exceedingly well how to
utilise, when the right time comes, for giving a moral foundation to any expan
sionist scheme southwards he may decide upon.
8. As re gards relations with Tr ansjordan, the Hejaz-Nejd delegate to the
tribunal to he set up under the Hadda Agreement, Abdul Aziz-bin-Zeid, left Jeddah
on the 20th January for Jerusalem. The Hejaz authorities, as far as can be seen,
realise the delicate situation which arose at the last meeting and which led to its
failure, and appear desirous that this second meeting should have better success.
They claim that Nejd and Hejaz have lost a considerable number of camels in the
various frontier raids still unliquidated.
9. With reference to paragraph 23 of my report for October last, this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
has now notified the Hejaz Government, on behalf of the Government of the Sudan,
that all intending pilgrims from Fellata settlements in the Sudan are being informed
of the new Hejaz regulations to the effect that they will only be allowed to land at
Jeddah, that they must carry regular papers, and that they should be in possession
of funds sufficient for their maintenance while on the haj. It is hoped that the main
stream of Takruri pilgrims will now flow naturally along the Suakin-Jeddah
steamship route. Such a circumstance, coupled with the stricter requirements
obtaining on this side, will undoubtedly make for the pilgrims’ greater comfort and
security.
10. Switzerland has formally recognised Ibn Saud as King of the Hejaz.
^ au( ^ h as been, during the whole of January, in Riyadh, which he
reached by motor-car almost direct from Medina, not visiting Hail as was proposed.
The return of their Sultan to the tribesmen of his eastern dominions will in an
probability improve the situation in Nejd. No hint has reached Jeddah of really
serious trouble there, the nursery of Ibn Saud's power; but it is known that the
King’s old supporters have sometimes, with their customary frankness, expressed to
Ibn Saud their naive surprise at the extent to which, since he left them, he has