Page 142 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

120 Records of Bahrain

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CONPIMNTIA^
t
pROM- BAHRAIN TO FOREIQN OFFICE

Gypher/OTP, >\ ' ' DEPARTMENTAL i Jjmm
Mr, Burrow*
“Bl 9,35 p,m, March 3, 1959.
Hffl-m, '■ i «l 10,23 p.m, March 5, 1935,
March 9t 1953
yyi^nx, :
pOMP^ENTIAL
Addressed to Foreign Office telegram Her U3 of March 5
Repeated for tafanatloti B,il,E.0».
My deapatoh No| ?3l Bahrain Internal situation,

There have beon Pant further developmental % • •
(a) "High Executive Cajmittee" have produced the draft »f a
labour organization whloh they wish tt set up, The government haye
anntunoed that they propose tt pa8a a labour law and tt aot up a
committee tt atuiy it, but have not referred to the possibility of
trades unions being established, Mr, Audsloy (Labour Counsellor in
Cairo) arrived hero March 3, at my request, to glvo us advioo on
thoso labour questions, i
'
(b) Bahrain Government have received application to publish news­
papers, in one oa60 subject to prior government censorship, The
Ruler wishes te sot up instead a government newspaper, The "High
Executive Committee" have threatened boycott ;of the paper which
Mr, Batt hopes to start here in a few months1! time (but this is
moot unlikely to bo effective), The "High Executive Committee"
announced previously that they would stage demonstrations if their
demands were not granted. It is being fairly strongly rumoured
that this will take place for three days, beginning April 1, There
is also a story, told by a relation of one of the members of the
oommittoe to a British source, that if these are ineffective they
will assassinate one of the members of the ruling family and one
European, A member of the committee, on the other hand, has told
the Political Agent that the Ruler*s brother,! Da*ij, is organizing
a clandestine oounter-mevemont which will carry out terrorist
activities with the intention that the blame should be put on tho
oommittoe. Those stories may ref loot nothing more than talk of such
possibilities within various groups,
2, ' The Ruler, in a conversation with the Political Agent, hag
oritloized us for receiving communications from, and giving inter-
j^J-eijs to, members of tho committee, which, hoj says, inoreaces tbeir
V ,<s$y&ng middle of the road opinion, He .alluded to thf
a^(feasibility of deporting members of the committee, but did not appear,
r to> t^e it seriously for the time being, Th
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