Page 295 - Records of Bahrain (5) (i)_Neat

Claim by Ruler of Qatar 283
-3-

fishormen as "a laughable allegation and an
untrue description" and they allege that "they
are inhabited villages, established since a long
There ore housos time, with firmly built stone houses, permanently
built of unfaced
8tone, with mat inhabited, for more than a century, by the sub­
roofs.
jects of the Ruler of Bahrain and the subjects
of his ancestors with their wive a, fas:. lies,
herds and boats", I am surprised by such corv-
coctions and by the bold denial of the firmly
sot facto, flven more strange than these con-
tradictory remarks, which are apparent in all
their allegations, is (the fact) that while they

deny my statement that fishermen frequent the is­
lands yet they recant and confirm it thus t-
"that sliows that the islands are frequented by
fishermen who are from among the inhabitants
of Hawar Islands". If the Bahrain Government
show their ignorance of the conditions of Hawar

in these terms, and to the extent of drawing a
hint from my letter that fishermen frequent
these islands - and there are no other fishermen
than those to whom I referred above - whom they
want to use to Justify their action. (Then?),
The clear fact which nobody can deny is

that Hawar Islands are not in any way as des­
cribed by the Bahrain Government, Because they
Much more. are islands whose extent is from 4 to 6 square
miles approximately at high tide. Moreover they
♦There is excellent are barren, without water and unfit as a pastu­
pasturage after
rain in the main rage for herds, and was in the past completely
island.
without inhabited buildings and by no any way
**
♦♦There are two can be called villages or anything that approach­
well-established
villages. es the meaning of this word, and generally un­
frequented except by fishermen who come from