Page 71 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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but the stronger members of it add to their emoluments by obtaining goods and
services from the State, for which they do not pay, and by claiming ownership of
waste land required for development purposes and then selling it to I he State at
exorbitant rates.
4. Immediately after Abdullah al Salim’s accession the Political Agent
suggested to him that he should appoint a successor but he asked that the matter
should be allowed to rest. The 41 great ” Mubarak succeeded by assassinating his
rivals but since his time on the death of a Ruler the family have selected the
successor. Hitherto the choice has been a fairly obvious one but the situation is
not quite so clear at present. Abdullah al Mubarak has succeeded in acquiring a
position which leads to his often being regarded as the heir presumptive, and in
1951 the Political Agent recommended that he should be given His Majesty’s
Government’s support as such, but this suggestion was not approved by the
Political Resident.^) He is the son of a Georgian slave and Fahad al Salim who
also almost certainly aspires to the accession has negro blood in him and is very
black. If these are both pa.' i over because of their slave origin Jabir al Ahmad
would appear to be the most likely candidate. At present the question is entirely
an open one and Her Majesty’s Government are in no way committed but should
the present Ruler abdicate or die at an early date the fact that Abdullah al
Mubarak and Fahad’s brother Subah al Salim command rival police forces may
create a dangerous situation.
5. There has been no important change in the Treaty position vis-a-vis Her
Majesty’s Government since 1928. In 1935 it was proposed to take up the question
of substituting for the series of letters and informal undertakings which govern
relations between Her Majesty’s Government and the Ruler of Kuwait a compre­
hensive treaty on the lines of the Qatar Treaty of 1916.C) The Political Resident,
however, thought that the proposal would be viewed with suspicion by the Ruler
and that owing to His Majesty’s Government’s failure to resolve the date gardens
question, the Iraqi smuggling problem and the Saudi blockade it would be difficult
to press him in the matter.O The proposal was accordingly dropped and so far as
is known has not since been renewed. So far as the secret Bandar Shuwaikh
Agreement of October 15, 19070 (Appendix A (i) & (ii)), is concerned the opinion
was expressed in the Historical Summary of Events for 1907-280 that although the
payment of rent under it was terminated in 1922 it did not appear that the agreement
was abrogated and that the reciprocal pledges, so far as they were not affected by
other subsequent instruments, presumably remained binding. It would appear that
this opinion was correct as in 1931 when the customs duty was raised to 4£ per
cent, and the Ruler's attention was called to the tenth article of the agreement,
which restricts the duty recoverable from British merchants to 4 per cent., he made
no attempt to deny the validity of the article and stated that he had ordered the
Director of Customs not to recover more than 4 per cent, duty from British
subjects.(*) In 1936 when the customs duty generally was raised to 5 per cent, it was
left at 4 per cent, for British subjects. In 1942 the Ruler raised the duty to 6^ per
cent, and applied the increase to British subjects. The 1907 agreement was not
formally invoked but the Ruler was informed that His Majesty’s Government
agreed to the increase provided he agreed that in accordance with previous practice
no further increase in duty should be applied to British subjects without the consent
of His Majesty’s Government.(°) The Ruler then undertook in writing to consult
His Majesty’s Government before making any further increase (Appendix B). It
may be noted that the 1907 agreement is not one-sided and that His Majesty s
Government promised that 44 the town of Koweit and its boundaries belong
to .... the Shaikh of Koweit and to his heirs after him, and that all Shaikh
Mubarak’s arrangements in the matter of customs, &c., and his arrangements at
the present day shall remain in the hands of Shaikh Mubarak-as-Subah, ruler oi
Koweit, and his heirs after him.” The agreement amongst other things gives Her
Majesty’s Government the right of pre-emption over Warbah Island which tne
Iraqis are anxious to acquire (paragraph 59 below). The extent to which the
present Ruler would regard the agreement as binding is uncertain.
(3) P.R. to F.O. 1941/34 of September 29. 1951 (EA 1941/30 of 1951).
(<) No. 1 III.T.C.
H I.O. to F.O. U.d. of October 2. 1935 (E 5942/19/91 of 1935).
(•) Asia. Various Paper 1902 to 1912.
(T) Appendix at p. 165, P.G. 13.
(•) I.O. to F.O. Ext. 3611/42 of July 17, 1942 (E 4290/2658/91 of 1942).
(•) I.O. to F.O. Ext. 2048/43 of April 29. 1943 (E 2490/252/91 of 1943).