Page 98 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

400 Records of Bahrain
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Thoir claims to these places wore made on aimilar gr/ounds to
the claims of Bahrain and especially on the fact that Both
the places which they claimed lie nearer to the Saudi Arabian

coast that to Bahrain.
6. No further progress was made on this and the Amir Faisal has
% agreed to submit our recommendation to King Ibn Saud. In the

hopes of achieving an over-all settlement we offered to make a big
concession over the Kuwait islands where our claims are weaker,
but the Saudis were not prepared to give way and we felt that
the time was not appropriate to suggest any modification on our

part over the Bahrain proposal.
7. We havo ascertained from the Bahrain Petroleum Company
representative hero that even half the Fasht-bu-Sa'ofa shoal would

represent a commercial proposition for them if oil is found there.
a We would therefore be prepared to concede half the shoal to Saudi
\7 Arabia if this would provide for a final settlement. We consider
this shoal to be important for Bahrain economically as it is her

only other potential source of oil. Although Bainah-al-Kabir has
virtually no economic value to Bahrain we are not prepared to
concedo this island unless the Shaikh should bo willing to do so

in the interests of a friendly settlement with Saudi Arabia. We
appreciate however the strong sentimental attachment of the Shaikh
to this place.
a
8, The Saudi Delegation agreed in general with our proposed
1. mothod for delimiting the seabed area. The drawing of the line

- will however be dependent on the ownership of the foregoing
Kl
Y> islands and shoals. The Saudis proposed an alternative mothod of
t
| delimiting the area but practical offeot was almost the same as
\ our own and we do not expoot much difficulty in reaching agreement
\
on this.
/B. Kuwait.