Page 457 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Effect of Zubarah dispute on relations, 1949 445

-b-
of Your Excellency's mediation und confirm to Your
Exoelloncy that we agree to tho number of people men­
tioned by Your Excellency and to the tents and the
supplies to bo exempted from Customs formalities and
superviolon, provided that they (tho poopjo) aro Shaikh
Salmon's men n niTh is own^dei)oncVeiits und that none of the
members of the fow tribes who migrated from Qatar In
an unsoomly manner ahull Infiltrate Into thorn and alco
provided that the supplies) etc. are meant, for thoir
ration only. I ro-lterate my thanks to Your Excellency
for'the paragraph in which you stated that neither Ills
Highness the Shaikh of bahruln nor any of hie dependents
would undertake any building In Zubarah area, 1 should
add that no cultivation should be undertaken thero.

I have withdrawn uiy officials who wore In the
fort - both tho Customs officials and tho guards - and
th^re are none save two wutcluasn for the fort with the
assigned duty to clean tho fort and nothing else.
I hopo you will confirm that the restrictions
imposed on Qatar will be removed and that 11.11. tho Shaikh
of Bahrain will allow to Qatar (tho flow) of fruits und
vegetables up to domund and to some of my followers who
are dependents on me end whoso number would not exceed
10 persons to travel between bahruln und Qatar without
any pass."
The fact that, at this time 1 instructed Wr.
Wilton to withhold delivery to the Shaikh of 76 rifles
and 70,000 rounds of ammunition which he had bought
through us and paid for, and thereby caused him, ostensibly
at any rate, great offence may have had something to do
with hia compliance - but X doubt it.

12, On tho 22nd of February l saw the Bhuikh of Bahrain
and ohowod him the Shaikh of Outer's reply, As I expected,
he objected to (1) the leaving of the two watchmen in the
fort, and (2) the condition made thut "none of tho members
of the few tribes who mi,.rated from i;atur in an unseemly
mannor shall infiltrate" amongst the people to be sent
from Bahrain to the Zulu rail arou.
To my surprise lie objected moie strongly to tho
first condition than to the second and after tho usual
animadversions on the porfidyand untruatworthineaa of tho
Qatar people ho asked mo to write to the Shaikh of Qatar
asking him to leave the fort empty. Ho did not strangely
onough ask mo to write to the Shaikh regarding the condition
about the "non-infiltration" of Qatar tribes who had mi­
grated from Qatar etc. Actually ha talked about this
condition os if it rnornt that no tribesman .\
sidin'- in wot nr now should mix with his people going from
Bahrain to Zubarah. what tiie Arabic does mean is as stated
in tho translation, i.o., none of tho actual people who
had migrated from Zubarah should return there. Tho
reason (I have discovered from Mr. Dulgrove) for tho
Shaikh's purposeful misreading of this stipulation is
thet it now sot-mo that fow of the people who migrated
from Zubarah and, whomtho Shaikh lias always described
as yearning