"تقرير بقلم السير جلبرت كلايتون، قائد فرسان وسام القديس مايكل والقديس جورج، فارس الإمبراطورية البريطانية، ورفيق وسام الطهر، عن بعثته إلى ملك الحجاز ونجد وتوابعها، بغرض التفاوض على تسوية المسائل العالقة. (أبريل-يونيو، ١٩٢٨)" [‎٢‎٩] (٩٦/٣١)

29
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primarily of co-operation, that is to say, of trying with His Majesty
to discover, by a frank and friendly interchange of views, some
solution of the difficulties with which he was faced.
6. The King replied by assuring me that he had no doubt what
ever of the good intentions of His Majesty's Government and of the
fact that they had not departed from their traditional friendship
towards him. But his difficulty lay with his own people and with
the difficult complex of religious, tribal and family traditions which
was at the base of their society. He spoke at some length in this
sense and gave me clearly to understand that he had spoken his last
word in the matter of the demolition of posts.
7. I replied by appealing to His Majesty not to take a final decision
at once. I said that perhaps it had escaped his attention that in
this discussion His Majesty's Government were not asking any
concession of His Majesty. Put concisely, their attitude was that
they adhered to the maintenance of the posts as a matter of important
principle, but that they were sincerely anxious to see peaceful
relations between 'Iraq and Najd, and had sent me with instructions
that I should use my best endeavours to find, in co-operation with
His Majesty, a solution which would secure that end. If His Majesty
maintained an attitude about the posts which was in such direct
conflict with the principle laid down by His Majesty's Government,
then the only possible result would be that I should have to admit
failure in my effort to co-operate with His Majesty for the sake of the
re-establishment of peace. I must, therefore, urge His Majesty
not to arrive at a final decision without further consideration of my
proposal which amounted to this, that when one door opening into
a settlement was found to be definitely barred it was a natural and a
wise course to try and find some other entrance. His Majesty,
being better equipped than anybody else with knowledge of the
people of Najd, was obviously the person most qualified to suggest
the basis on which a settlement might be found. As I had
previously and repeatedly told him he could count on my help in the
fullest possible manner, not only in his efforts at finding a possible
solution, but also in the task of presenting it to His Majesty's
Government with absolute fairness and impartiality.
8. His Majesty replied by saying that he also disliked haste in
such matters, and that he was quite willing to give further con
sideration to the question. He did not, however, give any indication
whatever of any intention on his part to modify his attitude,
but merely gave expression to protestations of belief in the good
intentions of His Majesty's Government.
The meeting rose at 11.30 a.m.