Page 70 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

56 Records of Bahrain

into the town; he had already arranged to disporso
a crowd of Sunni gathered in Muharraq. Instead,
some seventy-five policemen wero sent into the bazaar
aj?oa, to protoct the merchants from the strike
pickots. The shops wero opened, at'first with

considerable hesitation and anxiety,: and the strike
gradually petered out. By July 10 the great
majority of the Oil Company employees had returned to
work, and the situation had returned to normal
14. On July 10 the Commission finished its

sittings and produced its report, of which I
enclose a copy. The hearings had been boycotted
by some of the Shia, but the Commission was able to
obtain enough evidence to make a clear picture of
the events of July 1. The main burden of tho work
devolved upon Judge Haines, and it is duo to his
efforts that the Report was completed and presented

to the Ruler within a comparatively short timo. The
Report, as we had anticipated, blamed the police for
opening fire without orders, although not without
considerable provocation.
15. On July 15 a Proclamation was issued, of
- which I enclose a copy, announcing specific reforms

to which the Ruler had previously agreed, It has
been on the whole well received in the town, although
it is still early to judge its full effect, and of
course it is distasteful to many members of tho
A1 Khalifah and to certain ’advanced11 young Sunnis who

/suspect

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