Page 192 - Records of Bahrain (5) (i)_Neat

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opinion we should advise the Shaikh that no member of the
family should be appointed to any of the Courts unless

he has had some training outside Bahrain, This of course
is not too simple. India is useless as a training ground
owing to language difficulties; we cannot consider ’Iraq
where the courts are so corrupt; and the choice must be

between Egypt and the Sudan. Of these the latter would
be preferable, but it is a long way from Bahrain. Incidentally
I might mention thut I have hed to suspend the Junior Joint
Court as Shaikh Ali bin Mohammad (son of Shaikh Mohammad bin
.........*' w*
’Isa), the Bahrain representative, was involved in a parti­
cularly disgraceful drunken brawl a fortnight ago. I am
inclined to think that the Bahrain Government would be
well advised to try to find a retired Arab magistrate of
good repute from Palestine or Egypt (in the latter case

one who has served in the Sudan), to inculcate some Ideas
of procedure while Bahrain "hopefuls" are being trained,
(vi) The Shia Shera Court is at present the main focal
point for agitation As you know it has for some time
been a public scandal and we have recently aided the Bahrain

Government in obtaining the services of a new Qadhi from
Najaf, by name Shaikh Abdul Husain A1 Halli. Though both
Belgrave and I like the new Qadhi very much I agree with

Pelgrave that It v/ould be taking too much ‘of a risk to
appoint him as sole Shia Qadhi. I gather that the present
idea is to remove Shaikh Ali bin Jaffar, who is rather a
dangerous individual, from the Court, to retain Shaikh Ali
bin Hasan who is very old but might be harmless if Ali bin

Jaffar*s influence were removed, together with Shaikh Baqr
al Asfar who has hilherto constituted the minority of one
in the divergent rulings given by the Court, end to appoint
one/-

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