Page 149 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

roB THE YEAR MS. 9

«j]i0 Arms Traffic in the Persian Gulf during 1913.
flho measures for the suppression of the arms traffic in tho Persian Gulf
during tho year ending December 31st,
Gcrucial Review.
1013, were conducted on the same lines,
l sanctioned on the same scale, as those of the preceding year. The trade, how-
so far from suffering any abatement, continued brisk and flourishing and,
towards the close of the year, oven showed signs of recrudescence. The arena
f ffun-ruuning became considerably enlarged, and continued to more westward.
Prom the date of the opening of the bonded warehouse in Maskat, namely,
September 1st, 1912, that port rapidly ceased to be a distributing centre, but
is* place was taken by a number of small dep&s which were scattered chiefly
Amongst the Oman hills and along the Batin ah coast. Some of these situated
ia or near the Wadi Samail became absorbed during the rising in Oman which
£:st began to assume serious proportions in the month of May. Dcp&ts are
to be found at Barkah, Masna’ah, Suwaiq, Khaburah, Kliadhra and -Sohar.
i!ong the coast of Trucial Oman there are stocks of rifles at Kbasab, Dibai,
:> hr jail, and Abu Dhabi; while ia Al Katr the trade still rests mainly with
pjiah. 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 the largest
emporium at the northern end of the Gulf Such names as Rue Hilleh, Khor-
ilashur, and Ram Hormuz, arc increasingly familiar in the sphere of arms
t.-affic ; and Basrah and Mohammerali are responsible for a greater number of
juais now than formerly. Most of theso places have regularly contributed
tZieir small, dhow-borne consignments of arms and ammunition to south-eastern
P'erria. As rifles continued tj 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 Mekran than during the pre­
ceding year.
It was at first thought that these isolated stocks of arms on the Arab coast t !
rould soon become 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
tain their surplus, it seems tolerably clear that these depfits are being replen­
ished by some means or other. There are two principal potential sources of
supply. Firstly, there are the large allotments of arms ana 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-
boose report. Secondly, there are the similar consignments which are cons­
tantly passing through the Maskat warehouse for the Shaikhs of Kuwait,
Moliaramerali, Bahrain and other places, as woll as for various Governors,
Chiefs, and Sirdars. The aggregate of issues on. these two counts represents
'ey 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.
So 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
the rifles issued from the warehouse under the two foregoing holdings find
their way into unauthorised hands, it is difficult to understand how these
fcptts are able to maintain themselves as distributing centres unless they are
‘applied independently of the warehouse altogether. This, of course, can only
done in two ways, by land and by sea. Now to bring arms down to the
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 ports of call
Jould be a matter of great simplicity. The logical conclusion is therefore that
k® ocean-going steamers, are at all events helping to keop theso dopAts supplied,
* theory that is in no way inconsistent with the information at our disposal.
e