Page 127 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

Saudi Arabia-Bahrain seabed boundary, 1951-1958 517

Minnies.
wo thought they were a great deal ntronger
than anything the Saudis could1muster.
During the 1951 talks, however, we decided
(and tho Ruler of Kuwait agreed) to concede
to the Saudis seven out of the eight
Iolands, retaining only tho island of
Farsi (this island lies on or Just on the
Persian side of the probable Gulf median
lino and has in the past also been claimed
by Persia). The Emir Faisal had no**
authority to diocuss tho Kuwait islands,
which the Saudis claim as indisputably
theirs, but he agreed to put our proposal
to the King, Nothing has been heard of
tho King's reaction to this proposal.
5. At tho time of tho 1951 talks there
was no suggestion from the Saudis that they
claimed either whole or part sovereignty
over Qaru and Umm al Maradin, the two
islands which lip' Off tho coaat of the
Z
5 Neutral Zone. In fact a! remark by YlJopuf
Yasin during the talks appearod to imply
< that tho Saudis did not claim them,
2 During 1952, however,’inspired by Pacific ;
Western (the American oil company)holding
the concession for the Saudi share of tho
X Neutral Zono) the Saudis put forward a
h
claim to part sovereignty over these two
iolands on the grounds that they wore in
2
the seabed pertaining to the Neutral Zone.
z We reflected outright this ontlroly new and
Id totally unfounded'claim; the Kuwait-Nojd
t Boundary Convention of 1922 defines tho
Neutral Zono as ending at the oca and in
% any caoe there is ample cvldonoe of Kuwait
sovereignty over those two iolands, for
which, with Kubbar (an island off Kuwait
UJ
m proper) tho Ruler granted an oil concession
to AMINOIL in 19U9* Subsequently to our
o rejection 0f> tho Saudi claims to these two
h islands we made proposals to the Saudis
for the issue of a Joint proclamation
o by Ibn Saud and tho Ruler of Kuwait
2
x declaring their Joint Jurisdiction over
H tho oeabed off tho Neutral Zono. Tho
O Saudia have not yet replied to this
z proposal.
6. The other matter which will at some
time have to be taken up with the Saudis
is the domarkation of the frontiers of the
Neutral Zone ( and subsequently its
administration). The frontiers are
defined in the 1922 Boundary Convention
and the actual demarkation of them on the
ground should be able to be done by a
technical commission, There are certain
possible ambiguities in tho definition
which may cause differences of opinion
when the commission gets to work and
require reference to Governments, but
this stage has not yet been reached.
Instructions were sent to Jedda last year
for proposals to be made to the Saudis
with regard to tho domarkation of these
frontiers but action on these instructions
was suspended at the time of the
recrudescence of the main frontier dispute,
conacquont on the arrival of Turki in
Buraimi.
/7.