"14/172 I المجلد ب. ٦٨. السواحل العربية ومسائل متنوعة" [و‎‎١‎٠‎٠] (٤٢٠/٢٠٨)

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4, There reroain Hoe, (1) to (5) which a: e distinctly More of
a problem* The position he -e mmto be that these ielancte
lie a long my away froiri the K owe it coast and should at first
sight belong either to Persia (e.g»Farsi) or more probably to
Saudi Arabia, gainst this it may be argued (1) that Ko' eiti
fishermen have regularly used the islands for yea-s and therefore
Koweit has a claim based on prescription (this may be weak but
in at least as good as a clatia based on propinquity)5 (2) that
alternatively the islands are rcsnullius and therefore the
islands can now be annexed by anyone, since it appears unlikely,
though we cannot be sure, that either :e. sia or , audi Arabia
have exercised any effective sovereignty in any of these islands
hitherto,
5, In the previous correspondence it has usually been the
Persian aspect we have considered, .Out quite apart from the
Persian aspect, we feel that the present is ha dly the time to
encourage our clients to embark on assertions of sovereignty
which may annoy King Urn Saud, In our view it would be much
better not to encourage the SheiKh of Koweit to take any forward
step at present. But if v/e do encourage, or at least approve,
his doing so, it should at any rate be with the reservation
that the Sheikh may have to withdraw in the event of what prove
to be well-founded claims being brought forward, as a result of
his action, by Persia or Saudi Arabia or anyone else,
6, Moreover, m we have pointed out before, from the purely
oil point of view (and these islands seem to have no other real
potential value) we shall be no worse off, and in some ways
shall be better off, if the Sheikh of Koveit does not get them.
If the Persians get them the Anglo-Iranian Oil ipany will
get the oil (if there is any and if the ownership is decided
before the end of 1958), If King Ibn Saud gets them, he will
also get the oil, and some money therefrom, tvhich would be all
to the good,
7, Finally Beckett has reminded us that in these days, in
order/