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el-Deen, and Al-Alaiwat attended the meeting on behalf of the NUC. Minutes of the

meeting were recorded by Yusuf Al-Shirawi on behalf of the Government. 655

On the same day that the Ruler met with the NUC, a discussion took place in

the British Cabinet regarding Belgrave’s future and Nutting updated them. He

believed that there existed a growing sense of distrust aimed at Belgrave in Bahrain.

Nutting feared that the Ruler would eventually give in to public pressure and

dispense with Belgrave before a successor could be appointed. Therefore, it was

essential to secure a deputy to the Adviser while Belgrave was still active in his

position. However the Minister cautioned that ‘the Ruler’s confidence in us should

not be shaken by any premature disclosure of our intentions’. After a deputy had

been chosen, Belgrave must be approached and persuaded to accept a deputy to aid

him and he must then aim to win over the Ruler to influence him in allowing him to

takeover all of Belgrave’s duties. 656 An early list of candidates to replace Belgrave

was proposed by Riches. They were: Duncan Weir, Geoffery Hawkesworth the

former Sudanese Provincial Governor, Lord Oxford and Asquith the former Adviser

to the Libyan Prime Minister, and a JS Hewitt who worked for the Saudi Arabian

anti-locust mission. At the very beginning of the process of candidate selection,

Weir and Hawkesworth on personal grounds withdrew their names. 657

On the mere thought of having JH Belgrave, the Adviser’s son, replace his

father, Lloyd commented: ‘The son is not fit to “inherit” Belgrave’s position’. 658 In

655 TNA, FO 1016/467, Translation: Minutes by Yusuf Al-Shirawi of Meeting held at Riffa Palace, 15
May 1956.
th
656 TNA, CAB 128/30, C.M. (56) 36 conclusions, 15 May 1956.
657 TNA, FO 371/120549, D.M.H. Riches on Proposal of an Assistant to Sir Charles Belgrave, 17 May
1956.
658 TNA, CAB 195/14, Discussion on Bahrain, 17 April 1956.

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