File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎227v] (459/898)

point of view of the Government of the Hejaz and Nejd-. Discussions will bo
resumed at a later date.
4. The cable referred to is the submarine line between Jeddah and Port Sudan,
and agreement as to its ownership and method of exploitation has now practically
been reached. The cable will become the joint property of the Sudan and Hejaz
Governments, and it is proposed to authorise the Eastern Telegraph Company to
work and maintain it under an agreement to be concluded between that company and^H
the two Governments. As soon as the necessary signatures have been put to the
agreement, it is understood that the repair ship “ Mirror ’ will be ordered to Jeddah
to carry out repairs on the interrupted cable. For the time being, as has been the
procedure for a considerable period, telegraphic communication between Port Sudan
and Jeddah is by wireless.
5. Sheikh Murgani-el-Idrisi, who came to Ibn Saud as an envoy from the ruling
Idrisi Sayyid Hassan in September last, has again arrived in the Hejaz by sea
going dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. from Jizan, and visited Ibn Saud at Medina.
6. Now that it has been possible to compare information from different sources,
it becomes increasingly clear that the attitude of Ibn Saud to the Imam Yahya is
substantially that described in the Jeddah report for October. The King is not
prepared to see Asir annexed by the Imam. In fact, on the strength of a
recommendation of Asir to his protection, which he claims, the late Sayyid
Mohammed-el-Idrisi made to him on his death-bed, Ibn Saud looks upon that small
State as his particular preserve.
7. The Palestinian journalist von Weisl, who was in Jeddah in October and
who obtained such interesting declarations from Ibn Saud, has now returned from
the south with copious notes, a longing to get back into his Mittel-Europa knicker
bockers, and a vast admiration for the machinations of Britain in the Farsan
Islands. He left for Egypt before Christmas.
8. He made little journalistic headway, it appears, in the Imam’s territory,
although he noted defensive preparations at Medi; but he spent ten days at Jizan,
and was welcomed, he says, in Idrisi circles. There he found an atmosphere of
confidence and even bellicosity. He saw the ruling Idrisi Sayyid Hassan, and the
triumvirate who direct him : Sidi Ahmed Shereef-el-Senussi, the Grand ” Senussi;
Jemal “ Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ”-el-Gazi, a former Turkish officer of Palestinian origin, whom
von Weisl describes as having been formerly an aide-de-camp to Enver Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and
whose tedium in Jizan he helped to wile away with long games of chess; and Sayyid
Mustafa-el-Idrisi. These personages were obviously convinced that the clouds had
passed from over Asir, now that they had established relations with a powerful oil
company, and that, if there were to be any more rain, it would shower sovereigns.
They seemed to feel, too, although they are aware that his interest cannot be purely
paternal, that they can rely, should the worst come to the worst, on the protection
of Ibn Saud. Indeed, Jizan was in excellent spirits, and if the musical conceptions
of the Grand Senussi and his friends were more in harmony with modern tastes,
one could almost imagine Jizan echoing to the refrain of the popular song to which
discreet allusion is made above.
9. Relations with 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 have improved. His Majesty’s High Commis
sioner for Palestine proposed the reassembly in Palestine of the raids tribunal, which
met with such little success at Maan in September last. In considering this proposal,
Ibn Saud was inclined to make a stand for his formula that, before setting up the
tribunal afresh, the 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 tribesmen should be made to hand over all
undisputed loot not yet surrendered. It was, however, pointed out to the King that
such was the procedure already adopted, and that during the past twelve months
a considerable number of camels had been returned by the 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 raiders.
Consequently, in the last days of 1926, Ibn Saud definitely agreed to send two
delegates to Palestine to sit with two 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 delegates on a claims tribunal,
over which a British officer would preside. It is not unlikely that His Majesty s
decision was in part dictated by his urgent desire to see something accomplished m
this sore question before leaving Medina for the less accessible parts of his dominions.
10. Mr. Charles W. Crane arrived in Jeddah from Egypt on Christmas
morning on a short visit to the Hejaz, his ultimate goal being Hodeida, whence he
hopes to go up to Sanaa. He will be remembered as one of the two private
commissioners sent out to Palestine and Syria in 1919 by President Wilson to conduct
an enquiry into the desiderata of the local populations regarding their future politico
status, the results of which were embodied in the King-Crane report. In 1922
was again in Syria, but was asked by the French to leave Damascus, alter
demonstrations there of which, willingly or unwillingly, he was the “ point cm