Page 453 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Effect of Zubarali dispute on relations, 1949 441

Confidential, Political Agency,
Bahrain i
*Q,C/fl-£16. 23rd April, I960,

Sir,
I have the honour to state that in accordance
with the instructions in Your Excellency's letter Ho.
163/33/49, dutod tho 29th December, 1949, I made
o farther effort to urrlve at a solution of tho Zubarah
question. Tho following is un account thoreof and
of tho mousure of succoss Y/hich bus resulted ao far;

8. It seemed to mo thut only a new approach to the
problem offered any chance of a solution, During the
years since it was made olthor Colonel Oullowey or
1 myself us Political Agents hid endcuvoured, as you
Are so wall aware, to settle it on tho basis of tho
ifll-fated 1944 "Agreement". In doing so wo were alwoys
at a disadvantage with the Shaikh of Uuhraln because
the "Agreement" was of course impossible to interpret
and it was furthermore impossible, even if interpreted,
to enforce it. It v/hsj natural for tho Dhaikh of Buhraln
to base his case upon the "Agrement", In doing uo, he
was fighting his battle in accordance with one of the
classic principles of genoralshlp - ho was in fact
Choosing his own ground while on our side we viore handi­
capped from the start by tee knowledge that while an
Agreement negotiated by II.M's Heprosentativo in Bahrein
was quite unworkable, it made us feel extremely oheopish
to have to say ao.
3. The other approach which seemed to mo to offer
gome hope Y/as to got av/oy from tho "Agaoiaent" with its
Vaguenons ao to "condlIlona returning to what they wore
previously", and from arguments based upon past histox'y >
and in tho first place, merely to try and find out whut
was the minimum which would satisfy tho demands of tho
Bhaikh of Bahrain and which tho tfhaikh of Mator would bo
likely to concede. There wore indications, too, that
if the former's demands could bo limited to what I would
call "tribal rights" in Zubarali (i.o., rights to graze,
to hunt, etc., without supervision by Government officials),
Without raising questions of sovereignty and Jurisdiction,
then tho present Shaikh of Qutar, by contrast with his
bitterly distrustful old father, might be induced to accept
fchemj and that they would satisfy tho Sheikh of Bahrain,
for whom the whole question seemed now to have become
mainly one of preotlgo and of the formal assertion of
alleged "rights" rather than one of the re-acquisition of
% property or of territorial gain - though there was and
I probably alwoys will bo u four of tho Shaikh's atressing
this latter aspect. It was in the light of this thinking
that I ro-opproaohod tho problem.
4. On the 16th of January, I sow Bhulkh All bin
Abdulla)) at Dukhan (1 bad to auk him to como and see me
there os I happened during thut visit to Qatar not to be
fit • • •
Hiflfc$xo4llenoy the political kesidant,
58&?"1