Page 147 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

TOB THE YEAR MS. 9 i
i

r£jio Arms Traffic in the Persian Gulf during 1913.
£lio measures for tho suppression of the arms traffic in tho Persian Gulf
during tho year ending December 31st,
Gt:U6itl ReviOw.
1913, were conducted on the same lines,
«cd sanctioned on the same scale, as those of the preceding year. Tbe trade, how-
" r, so far from suffering any abatement, continued brisk and flourishing and,
towards the close of the year, oven showed signs of recrudescence. The arena
j frun-running became considerable enlarged, and continued to move westward.
the date of the opening of the bonded warehouse in Maskat, namely,
September 1st, 1912, that port rapidly ceased to ho a distributing centre, but
jljplace was taken by a number of small dep&s which were scattered chiefly
^aongst the Oman hills and along the Batinali coast. Some of these situated
jaor near the Wadi Samail became absorbed during the rising in Oman which
j=.st began to assume serious proportions in the month of May. Dep&ts are
r„otf to be found at Barkah, Masna'ah, Suwaiq, Khaburali, Khadhra and -Sohar.
ilong the coast of Trucial Oman there are stocks of rifles at Kbasab, Dibai,
Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi; while iu Al Katr the trade still rests mainly with
pdiah. With the traveling of the storm-centre westward, the town of Kuwait
tis become more and more affected, and at the present time it is tbe largest
emporium at the northern end of the Gulf Such names as Rue Hilleh, Kb.or
)hsliur, and Ram Hormuz, are increasingly familiar in the sphere of arms
i.-iffic ; and Basrah and Mohammerak are responsible for a greater number of
arms now than formerly. Most of theso places have regnlarly contributed
their small, dhow-borne consignments of amis and ammunition to south-eastern
Fer«ia. As rifles continued to dribble into Mekran from the south, so Afghans
continued to dribble in from the north ; and during the year under report a far
larger number of rifles reached Kabul from hLekran than during the pre­
ening year.
It was at first thought that these isolated 6tocks of arms on the Arab coast
rould soon bccomo exhausted, or at any rate cease to be of any account : but
in view of the fact that, after supplying local needs, they were still able to
despatch nearly 8,000 rifles, and upwards of 650,000 rounds , to the Persian coast
tam their surplus, it seems tolerably clear that these depbts are being replen­
ished by some means or other. There are two principal potential sources of
supply. Eirstly, there are the large allotments of arms and ammunition, which
a.'e made periodically by the Sultan of Maskat to the lesser Shaikhs of the
Oman confederacy, and which oddly enough are not referred to in the Ware­
house report. Secondly, there are the similar consignments which are cons­
tantly passing through* the Maskat warehouse for the Shaikhs of Kuwait,
Mokammerak, Bahrain and other places, as woll as for various Governors,
Chiefs, and Sirdars. The aggregate of issues on these two counts represents
r*7 large quantities both of arms and ammunition upon which there is no sort
of check, and the ultimate disposal of which is by no means free from suspicion,
8o far we are on firm ground ; but when we approach the question as to
whether, or not, any of the Gulf ports, other than Maskat, are receiving sup-
P'ies direct from Europe, we must tread cautiously. Even allowing that many
tfthe rifles issued from the warehouse under the two foregoing holdings find
ikoir way into unauthorised hands, it is difficult to understand how these
‘tepfos are able to maintain themselves as distributing centres unless they are
‘-ffhed independently of the warehouse altogether. This, of course, can only
be done in two ways, by land and by sea. Now to bring arms down to the
Arab coast across the desert would involve enormous risk if indeed it were
Practicable at all; whereas to smuggle them in amongst the thousands of bales
°‘ merchandise which are delivered almost weekly at the various porta of call
be a matter of great simplicity. The logical conclusion is therefore that
‘^ ocean-going steamers, are at all events helping to keop theso dopAta auppUod,
theory that is in no way inconsistent with the information at our disposal.