"ملف 5/22 الشيخ خلف" [و‎‎٢‎٠] (٤٨/٤١)

3. On the 20th. -^aroh , my Consular Secreoary
received from the Political Agent, -Bahrain, his letter
No. 345 dated the 14th. March, wherein it was stated
with reference to the petition enclosed herewith, that,
in view of the disturbances which were associated with
the presence of Shaik^Khallaf in Bahrain, Eis Excellency
the Huler of Bahrain was not disposed to agree to his
return. Having ascertained that Shaikh Khallaf had
only recently left Baghdad en route Bahrain , my Gon-
-sular Secretary at once s nt to his Majesty•s Consul
Basra, the telegram of which a copy is attached; this
prove # d however too late to stop Shaikh Khallaf.
4. On receipt of the lolitical Agent's letter
dated the 14th, March a further search was made in the
High Corm-iissioner archives which lea to the discovery
of previous correspondence regarding the objections to
Shaikh Khallaf*s return to Bahrain, which pas. ea in
November 1928. My Consular Secretary was on leave in
No/ember, 1928. When he i ssued the eii.ergency visa under
'iii^ussion he had not seen this correspondence and had
no reason to suppose that the presence of Shaikh Khallaf
in Bahrain was in any way objectionable. Nor did he
expect a reply from the Political Vgent, Bahrain, in re-
-gard to Shaikh Khallaf 1 s petition enclosed, oecause the
petition appeared to be no more than a request for^assis-
-tance to proceed to Bahrain"; but this was taken to
mean assistance of a general nature only. The definite
application for passport facilities was not made until
some weeks later.
5. I should be grateful if an expression of apology
might be conveyed to Eis Excellency thtRuler of Bahrain
in regard to the incident, with an explanation of the un-
-fortunate oversight which gave rise to it. There would
of course have been no question of granting passport fa-
-cilities to Shaikh Khallaf without reference to the