'Files 61/12 and 61/16 (D 80) Treaty between Bin Saud and H. M. Govt' [‎121v] (249/408)

(a.) Points proposed by His Majesty*s Government.
5. Preamble. —The wording of the Preamble was not questioned, but was
accepted by Ibn Sa'ud with evident appreciation. He proposed, however, two
inessential modifications. The first was to provide that his son, the Amir Faisal,
should sign the Treaty as Plenipotentiary on his behalf, to which we naturally
consented. The second was that, in the Preamble and throughout the Treaty, he
should be styled ' King of the Hejaz and Nejd and their Dependencies " instead of
" King of the Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd and its Dependencies." To this proposal
we oljjected, pointing out to Ibn Sa'ud that, although the conversion of the sultanate
of Nejd into a kingdom was a matter on which we did not presume to offer an
opinion, it would be preferable if this change and the consequent modification of
the title, when made, were notified to His Majesty's Government, in accordance
with the procedure usually adopted in such matters. Ibn Sa'ud subsequently
withdrew his proposal.
6. Article 1.—The general stipulation for peace and friendship was accepted
by Ibn Sa'ud without demur, but there was some discussion about the second sentence
of the article. Ibn Sa'ud declared himself in favour of the deletion of the words
to use all possible means to prevent his territory being used as a base for
activities directed against the present or future interests of the other."
He maintained that the undertaking implied in those words was of a somewhat far-
reaching character, and that, in practice, it would be difficult for either Government
to abide by it without resorting to exceptional and possibly tyrannical measures.
He also declared that the general stipulation for peace and friendship contained in
the first sentence was, in his opinion, adequate to the end in view; but if an
amplifying sentence was desired, he suggested a clause to the following effect: —
to use all the means at his disposal to maintain bon coisinage and good
relations between the territories of the high contracting parties."
We thought it preterable to adhere to the original clause, and we informed Ibn Sa'ud
that his alternative clause, although it was in consonance with the spirit of the
article, did not seem to us to convey the intended meaning, which was that each
Government should take in its own territories what measures it could, within the
law, to prevent hostile activities being aimed at the other. In our endeavour to
meet Ibn Sa ud s objections, we offered to insert a qualification which should restrict
the scope of the measures to be taken by each Government, and we put forward the
following alternative wording : —
to maintain good relations with the other, and to endeavour by all the means
at his disposal to prevent his territories being used as a base for unlawful
activities directed against the interests of the other."
This text, except for an inessential modification of the wording, was accepted by
Ibn Sa'ud in his third draft.
7. Article 2.^Save for a conditional acceptance at the outset of the
negotiations, Ibn Sa ud steadfastly withheld his assent to this article. He took
pains to persuade us that his refusal was not motived by any unwillingness to accept
the existing state of affairs in mandated territories. ' He maintained that, on the
contrary, the conclusion of the Ifadda and Bahra Agreements was tantamount to
a definite recognition of the British position in those territories; and that he, for
his part, had no intention of questioning that position. On the other hand, he felt
unable to accept the proposed article. He argued that the formal recognition it
contained would inevitably be associated in the minds of people with the controversy
relating to the pledges given to the Sharif Husain in 1915—a controversy to which
he had never been party and into which he had no desire to be drawn. " He asked
with some vehemence that this article be not pressed upon him, in view T both of the
embarrassment it would cause him and of the fact that, for all practical purposes,
the British position in mandated territories had been recognised by him elsewhere.
8. Article 3.—On this point agreement was virtually reached before the
suspension of the negotiations. The main difficulty lay in Ibn Sa'ud's desire to
insert a qualification restricting the protection of pilgrims to those who performed
it in accordance with Shar'ia laws and ordinances" (see Annex 3, article 3).*
* Not printerl.