مجموعة ٦ / ٧ (٢) "اليمن: العلاقات بين حكومة بريطانيا واليمن". [و‎‎٦‎٧] (٧٣٢/١٤٤)

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17957/33 [No. 53].
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1* AUG to*
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No.
The ACTING-RESIDENT to the SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Received 24th July, 1933.)
\_Answered by No. .]
(Secret.)
(No. 163.)
g IRj The Residency, Aden, 12th July, 1933.
I have the honour to refer to Lieutenant-Colonel Reilly s Secret despatch No. 83
of the 12th April, 1933, # on the subject of treaty negotiations with the Yemen.
2. The Imam has now replied to Colonel Reilly’s communication to him of the
11th April, 1933, in a sense that indicates his rejection of the text that had been laid
before him clearly as the final terms acceptable to His Majesty’s Government. He has
also refused to agree to the present removal of trade restrictions on the frontier, that
His Majesty’s Government have insisted on as a condition of the continuance of negotia
tions; and I have recommended to you in a separate despatch! in that connexion that
the negotiations should be broken off for that reason.
3^ The suspension of these negotiations is likely to result in a deadlock, and I fear
that the situation may continue to drift indefinitely in the sense suggested by Colonel
Reilly in his demi-official letter to Mr. Cowell of the 15th February, 19334
4. The fact of such a suspension will certainly have a serious reaction on the
attitude of the ’Audhali Sultan, in regard to whom there has lately been increasing
justification for alarm lest his accumulated grievances against the Imam, for the harsh
treatment that he and his tribesmen have received and continue to receive at Zeidi
hands, may drive him to some aggressive and retaliatory act. _ For although it has
been the consistent practice of the" Residency during the past eight years, to exhort
and advise the ’Audhali Sultan to hold his hands in patience, and to rely on the peaceful
measures that His Majesty’s Government have been adopting to effect the restoration
of his territory and tribesmen, his forbearance, strained by years of unsatisfied
complaint, has latety been brought to breaking point by the immoderate and oppressive
acts of the Zeidi Amil of A1 Beldha, in the ’Audhali region on Adh Dhahir that is
occupied by the Imam.
5. The Sultan has hitherto loyally, if reluctantly, complied with our wishes, and
has acted as correctly as could have been expected under very exasperating conditions;
and the Political Secretary’s task of attempting to satisfy his frequent invocations of
his Treaty of Protection has not been free from embarrassment. In order that the
justification for the Sultan’s complaints may be more fully appreciated I enclose herewith
a summary of the incidents upon which they are based.
6. It is not to be thought that I anticipate the launching of an organized attack
by the ’Audhali Sultan on Zeidi forces on Adh Dhahir against our wishes and without
our support: he fully realizes that he could not carry it to success. What I fear is that
as the result of further hostile or slighting Zeidi acts, and of his final comprehension that
the Treaty negotiations in which he"has doubtfully relied to recover his rights have been
suspended, he may either precipitate open hostilities on the border by incautious
intrigues or by raids, or retire with all the loyal members of the ruling family, and
leave his territory open to occupation by the Imam.
7. The danger of the latter alternative is accentuated _ by the presence on
Adh Dhahir and in close relations with the Zeidi Amil of A1 Beidha, of the family of
the previous ’Audhali Sultan, who was murdered by the present incumbent in 1928. As
a result of this murder a bitter feud exists between the two branches of the family. It
is moreover important to consider that Zeidi occupation of the south-eastern Audhah
territory below Adh Dhahir would give the Imam comparatively easy access to the
sea. and would facilitate the isolation from Aden of the Hadhramaut, Beihan, the
Wahidi, and the three ’ Aulaqi regions (which supply the majority of and the best recruits
for the Aden Protectorate Levies and the Aden Armed Police).
8. For the reasons outlined above the necessity for compelling Zeidi evacuation
of occupied Protectorate territory has become increasingly apparent. As there is little
prospect, either now or in the near future, of fulfilling our protective obligations to the
’Audhah Sultan by peaceful means, I have considered it desirable to examine in detail
a scheme of operations for the expulsion of Zeidi forces from Adh Dhahir and for the
restoration of ’Audhali hostages who are still in the Imam’s hands. I enclose herewith
an Appreciation bv the Officer Commanding British Forces at Aden in this connexion,
* No. 17957/33 [No. 40]. f No. 17957/33 [No. 52].
Aden.—Gp. 6. 131/2963. 24. 24. 8/33. (16263) M. & S.
t No. 17957/33 [No. 7]