Page 512 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947

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(h) f.OCAL AFFAIRS.
(i) In February a merchant named Roopchand
permanand of Tatta (Sind) was murdered in Abu Dhabi.
Ho was the only British Indian subjoct in that place
and had settled there many years ago. The murderer was
caught, found guilty, and was oxccutcd by shooting.
(ii) On the 6th March the Hon*ble Sir Geoffrey
Prior, K.C.I.E., political Resident in the Persian Gulf,
accompanied by Major T. Hickinbotham, C.I.E., O.B.E.,
political Agent, Bahrain, arrived at Sharjah by air.
The next day the Hon'bio the Political Resident
visited the village of Dhaid, some 40 miles from Sharjah,
where he received the Shaikhs of Has al Khaimah, Ajman,
Sharjah, Dubai, Umm al Qaiwain, the Regent of Kalba,
and the Paramount Shaikh of the Beni qitab tribe.
The gathering wqs of considerable size and the Shaikhs
were accompanied by many of their relatives and
followers. The Hon'ble the Political Resident and
the Political Agent, Bahrain, discussed various matters
of Interest with tho Shaikhs and later invited them
and their followers to lunch. After the lunch the
Hon'ble the Political Resident addressed the gathering
and then returned to Sharjah. It is interesting to
noze.thuc all the Rulers of Trucial Oman were present
at this gathering with the exception of the Shaikh of
Abu Dhabi who was absent owing to the distance of his
State from the rendezvous. The greatest amiability
prevailed during the gathering and the Shaikhs
appeared to be on very cordial terms with each other
though, with one exception, they all appeared, as is
customary, armed to cue teeth. The exception ..as
the most warlike of then all, Shaikh Muhammad bin
Ali bin Huwaidin, the Paramount Shaikh of the Beni
vjitab, who, out of courtesy to the Resident, arrived
with his followers unarmed.
(ill) On the night of the 17th October, Shaikh
Rashid, son of the Shaikh of Dubai, occupied Khor
Ghunadhah with about 300 armed men. They took with
them large quantities of building materials and showed
every intention of building a fort there. In 1937 a
settlement of the boundary between Dubai and Abu Dhabi
was attempted and Ghanadhah was then not Included in
Dubai's claim. This nove then amounted to an aggression
against Abu Dhabi, and moreover as many of the armed
men were transported by sea it also constituted a
breach of the treaty of 1853 with His Majesty's
Government v/hich forbade aggression by sea. The
Assistant political Agent, Bahrain, left on the 21st
October for the Trucial Coast to investigate and
reported that the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi was preparing
to meet foren with force, and that hostilities between
Dubai and Abu Dhabi appeared to be imminent. The political
Agent, Bahrain, acting on the instructions of the
Political Resident in the Persian Gulf demanded the
withdrawal of all Dubai's forces from the Khor. This

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