Page 37 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat
P. 37
25
Overviews
HUITANNIC MAJESTY'S COVKUNMENT
IIIIS DOCDMICNT IS Till-. I'UUIM'.KTY Ol' 1118
CONFIDENTIAL Foreign Office Distribution
(18202)
ARABIA
Jununry 31, 1951
EA 1011/1
9I2S9 AROHIVE8 Section 1
PERSIAN GULF: ANNUAL REVIEW FOR 1950
Sir K. Uny to Mr. Devin. (Received 3Is/ January)
(No. 10. Confidential) Bahrain, have been signed. Civil aviation is assuming
Sir, 25th January, 1951. an ever-increasing importance in the Gulf.
I have the honour to transmit herewith A new agreement has been signed with the
a political review of events in the Persian Ruler of Kuwait and one with Sharjah is
Gulf during the year 1950. almost ready for signature. Some Lebanese
2. I am sending copies of this despatch airlines have been using the Kuwait airport
to Aden, Amman, Bagdad, Beirut, Basra, without authorisation and regulations have
the British* Middle East Office, Cairo, been promulgated which will enable action
Damascus, the Air Officer Commanding, to be taken against them. At the end of
Iraq, Jedda, Tehran, the United Kingdom the last month of the year there were over
High Commissions at Karachi and New a thousand operations at the Bahrain
Delhi, the Senior Naval Officer, Persian airport. This increase in activity is due
Gulf, the Group Captain, Persian Gulf, and partly to the private enterprise of Mr.
the Political Agents at Bahrain, Kuwait and Uosworth, whose Gulf Aviation Company
Muscat. is now running two scheduled services daily
I have, &c. between Bahrain and Dhahran in addition
W. R. IIAY. to less frequent services to Dohah and
Sharjah. In June two Air France aircraft
crashed within forty-eight hours of each
Enclosure other while approaching the Bahrain air
port with heavy loss of life. The results
A nnual Report of the enquiry held into these accidents
have not been published. There has been a
General great diminution of the number of eases
The year has again been a quiet one, the reported of abduction into slavery on the
outstanding event being the death of the Trucial Coast, possibly as a result of the
Ruler of Kuwait in January. The Sheikh seizure of the Sheikh of Dubai’s launch in
doms as a whole have been on good terms 1949. There have, however, been a few
with each other and with their neighbours abductions from the Batinah coast in
and there has been no internal political Muscat territory.
trouble. So far as is known, communism
has very few sympathisers amongst the Bahrain
local population. Reports emanating from Sheikh Salman has enjoyed good health
various Middle East countries that His throughout the year and has good reason
Majesty’s Government was about to bring to be satisfied as his dispute with Qatar
into being a federation of the Gulf Stales over Zubarah has been settled, at any rate
gave rise to a certain amount of speculation for the time being, and he has obtained a
but interest quickly subsided when it was substantial increase in royalties from the
discovered that they were without founda Bahrain Petroleum Company, At the
tion. Saudi territorial claims have been the beginning of the year lie became in
subject of much correspondence, but for creasingly restive over the Zubarah question
the most part have caused little concern lo and started to interfere with Petroleum
the various rulers, who arc anxious not to Concession Limited’s communications be
say anything which might displease Ibn Saud tween Bahrain and Qatar. In March, how
and trust that His Majesty’s Government ever, the Political Agent succeeded in
will protect their interests. The various oil bringing about a settlement whereby the
companies continued to make steady Ruler of Qatar agreed that Sheikh Salman
progress. No new oilfield has been dis could scud his people to Zubarah without
covered, but two new sea-bed concessions any passport or customs formalities and
148—50
u
