Page 134 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

524 Records of Bahrain

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to tho north and from thoro would go straight to tho
nearest point of tho median lino which would divido
tho soa-bed on tho Porsian side from that on tho Arabian

sido of tho Gulf. In tho courso of longthy and
repetitive discussion of tho part of tho boundary in
Uio neighbourhood of tho Fasht bu Saafa Yusuf Yasin's
argumonts boilod down primarily to two. One was that
wo v/oro now proposing quite a different lino to what had
boon put forward on the British sido in London. In
reply to this I pointed out that that lino had been
without projudico to tho shoals and islands which
naturally affoctod tho position of tho final boundary.

(I would intorjoct hero that the production by our
dologation at tho London mootings of 1951 of this theoretical
median lino has had a disastrous affect on tho whole
subsequent courso of thoso negotiations and emphasizes
tho danger of making hypothetical statomonts to pooplo

with montalitios like that of tho Saudis in order to
illustrato legal concepts instoad of relating our
position to the facts and tho matters of real interest
involved). The socond point was that when tho Saudis
had agreed in Jodda that tho lino should run southwards
from tho mid-point of tho Fasht bu Saafa they had
thought that the Fasht v/as tho area bounded by tho 10
fathom lino which would give a mid-point much further
i
oast, or alternatively that this statement had not meant
li that tho lino should run duo south i.o. it might run
to tho nearest point on tho Saudi median line. I replied
\
to Uio latter point that thoro v/as only one way to draw

/a

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