Page 368 - Records of Bahrain (3) (ii)_Neat

784 Records of Bahrain

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On the 10th 1 thought it advisable to aslc for a gunboat, to steady the situation,
and allay tho panic of tho Persians who wore clamouring for protection. The Per­
sians coutinuod to press me for a statement of tho action I was taking to protect
thorn,.so.I again wired on 11th to ascertain whothor a gunboat could bo spared.
No reply was rocoivcd that day.
On 12th I visited the town three times. It was quiet, but Najdis wero still
walking about armed with daggers and sticks, which the fidawis of tho Shailcs
woro afraid to take from them. Throughout the proceedings no single arrest was
cffoctcd. Pending definite news of a gunboat, I ordered tho Persians to remain
in their houses and refrain from opening their shops. On the afternoon of tho
12th news of the approaching arrival of gunboats was received, and at once had a
good effect. Qosaibi was evidently frightened, as it was reported that ho was
making cflorts'to get Sunni leaders to sign a memorial on his bohalf to Shaik Easa,
In discussing the situation with Shaik Salman, the latter expressed tho opinion
that the urrcst of 8m. Qosaibi would be a good thing and wanted me to carry it out.
When asked why none of the Shailcs would remonstrate with Qosaibi, lot.alono
arrest him, he admitted that as Bin Saud’s Agent, they were afraid to deal with him.
I pointed out that although I decided eases in which foreigners were concerned, tho
arrest of persons responsible for, or inducing, breaches of the peace, was tho duty of
the local Government. It was apparent that lie wished me to order the arrest, thus
enabling the Shaik to excuse themselves to Bin Saud that it was done under
pressure from the Agency. In my opinion such action, since at that time there was
no gunboat, was best left alone. In an interview with Shaik Hamad the latter
expressed, in confidence, his opinion that Qosaibi had planned the outbreak and
had been preparing lhc„Najdis tor some days for it.
My own opinion is, tHt if he did not actually prepare the outbreak, his action
in regard to the watch ^isodo which undoubtedly started the disturbance, was
equally culpable.
StalcmSf. of Mr. J. B. Macjiic of tho Anylo-Pcrsian Oil Company.
-!k
On Thursday, 10th, whon the fracas between the Najdis and Persians oc­
curred, I was in my hous** next to the Customs. I hoard n crowd of people rush­
ing post and a lot of shouting ; one of tin s/rvants told me that a row had'started .
and the Persians wmv out to kill a Najdi. Thu servant himself was a Najdi. I
took no notice until the disturbance increased. On going to the window I saw
some 30 or 40 people running about collecting sticks and running of! towards tho
Customs House. For tlw moment the disturbance near my house died down but
shouting then began firm the direction of the bazaar and in a minute or two tho
dsturbunce again increi.s-d and a bid/ of 50 or 00 people armed with lathis
a/>pciT*d on tin*. Customs pier. These were Arabs and they set about belabouring
fiuch Persian coolies as th« y could find. 1 saw lli- ni beat one man almost to
dtfath in the water in front of my house and anolh- r one on the Customs jetty.
Seeing this going on I wait round to Yusuf Kanoo’s office to find out what wns
really happening. I found the bazaar full of Arabs, shouting and carrying lathis.
Inside Yusuf Kanoo’s office was a Persian who had been badly knocked about,
and who had, I was told, bent rescued from the crowd by Yuauf Kanoo and ids
nephew Ahmed. There was a big crowd of Arabs outside the office of Qosaibi
and a dead Persian w.-.s lying at Qosaibi’s door. Qosaibi was nowhere to be scon.
I had just bi gun to make inquiries as to what was happening and had been in­
formed that file row b» gan as the resr.lt of an alti rcation betwe- n Abdulla Qosaibi
and Mi Jir.mcd Shcrif arising out of tlm theft of a watch from Qosaibi which had
been found in ih- pos&ssion of a Persian. Having got thus far I noticed that
the crowd began to disperse as quickly as it could and saw the reason for this
sudden dispersal was the arrival of the Political}Agi nt in his car, and &t< r, on tho
arrival of the Agency guard tho crowd dispersed entirely. I then accompanied
the Political Agint around the bazaar. In tho bazaar wo found two dead Porsians
and one dead Arab, while on .tho Customs jetty and in boats tied up to the jetty
we found two Persians and ono Arab so badly bcaton about that tlu.ir recovery
appeared improbable. Throughout tho wlwlo of this disturbance, I only actually
saw one man with firearms and lie wns firing powd. r. Ho was a Najdi. Ball
ammunition, however, was being fired in tho bazaar when the fight was in prog ross.
While going through the bazaar we collected any lathis wo saw.
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