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Party met on a regular basis to discuss their approach and the methods they would

use to tackle obstacles as they appeared. The Cooperative Compensation Fund’s

headquarters was initially used as the Party’s offices. Meetings were also held at Al-

Alaiwat and E Fakhroo’s residences. 268

Sir Leslie Fry, of the Eastern Department on behalf of the British Foreign

Secretary, forwarded one of the earliest instructions from the FO to the Residency in

the Gulf on how to handle the internal Bahraini conflict on 25 January 1955. The

Residency was told to adopt a policy in Bahrain that was dependent

upon how the situation develop[ed], in particular, upon the degree to
which the appointment of the Ruler’s Committee [Commission of
Enquiry] reduces the pressure from the reformers.

Moreover the Residency was instructed to persuade the Ruler to satisfy ‘local

aspirations and [to] give his administration a more modern look’. However caution

was to be exercised by British officials in avoiding undermining the Ruler or

‘causing him to abdicate’ as a result. The amount of pressure exerted on the Ruler

was left to Burrows’ own judgment. 269

In an effort to counter the opposition’s attacks against the Administration

and to publicise its work, the Government of Bahrain announced in February the

creation of a Public Relations Department, the management of which was awarded

to Belgrave’s son JH Belgrave. 270 As for the HEC, the Party aimed to fulfill one of Al-

Bakir’s long-held visions when it announced in its circular numbered fifteen of 8

268 Al-Bakir, From Bahrain to Exile, 73; and ‘Akhar Uthu Qiyadi ala Qayid Al-Hayat min “Hayet Al-Itihad
Al-Watani”’ [The Last Alive Member of the ‘National Union Committee’], Al-Wasat, 12 October 2002,
2.
269 TNA, FO 371/114586, Fry to Burrows, 25 January 1955.
270 TNA, FO 1016/443, Annual Review of Bahrain’s Affairs for 1955, HM Political Agency, 31
December 1955; and Belgrave, Personal Column, 217.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 89