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translated interview obtained at TNA suggested that the interviewer took a bold

line. One of the features of the interview that interested the Residency ‘was the

public airing of the rumour that he [Al-Bakir] had squandered Committee funds in

the Lebanon’. In the interview the NUC’s leader rejected the accusations that

claimed him to have lived an extravagant life in Lebanon. He proclaimed that he

gained his finances from his work as a merchant and from his work as a Secretary

for the local insurance company he helped to establish. Although it is not clear

whether Al-Bakir meant that he had saved money from his salary before his

departure or he was paid by the company during his six-month absence.

Al-Mizan also presented a further accusation to Al-Bakir, challenging him that

he had received a salary of 3,000 Rupees from the British. Al-Bakir rejected these

claims and accused opponents of the NUC for spreading unfounded accusations. The

nationalist was also asked about Al-Sanhouri’s status. He responded that he had

met the Egyptian law expert a number of times in Egypt and that the reason for his

delay was ‘not connected with the Government of Bahrain’. This is a claim that

agrees with the British Embassy in Cairo’s reports featured in Chapter Seven. Al-

Bakir, furthermore, pointed out his submission of ‘Bahrain’s case’ to the Arab

League.

Finally Al-Bakir was asked about the answer he had given at a press

conference in Damascus in relation to the action Bahrainis would take if an attack on

Egypt occurred. The Arab press stated that Al-Bakir had replied with a call to

murder all British citizens in Bahrain within twenty-four hours. The nationalist

leader rejected the newspapers’ accounts. Al-Bakir informed Al-Mizan that he had

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