"ملف 19/243 ( I (C 69 الزبارة" [و‎‎٩‎٤] (٤١٦/١٩٤)

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and the Interpreter he still declined to answer and
said that Saleh bin Mana must anwer that. Saleh bin
Mana again embarked on a history of Qatar and the question
was unanswered, the reason being, that of course the answei
is that, according to Arab custom, the house would natu-
rally belong to the descendant of the builder. I told
them that, as negotiators, they mst be prepared to con
cede something and that the Bahrain negotiators must
also be prepared to concede something. I again asked
them to endeavour to settle this matter by negotiations
and as an example of what I meant by negotiating I said
that possibly they might consider returning to the con-
UmuUU»*"iiKHiwui' i^i i- i i . -— r-ijr ii .-.4 ir ^fcum- , v ,.
dition that existed six months ago whereby Bahrain were
not making an active claim to Zubarah and the Shaikh
of Qatar was not endeavouring to levy dues or taxes on
the Na^m, and that they might consider this proposition
not as officially suggested by me but merely as an exam
ple of what I meant when I stated that they should search
for a way round the obstacle.
2. Saleh bin Mana suggested that it was difficult to
explain what each side was saying and that there were
probably differences in the reports of the conversations
from each side that he would like the conversations to
take place in front of a neutral party. I told him that
I would report this suggestion but that at the present
stage I hoped that they would be able to come to a rea
sonable understanding without the presence or interference
of a third party.
3. Saleh bin Mana then informed me that he had re
ceived a letter from Shaikh 'Abdullah bin Qassim with a
message for me in it and that was to the effect that the
Na'im were not dispersing. I expressed surprise that
Shaikh/-