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two years abroad and others remained in Bahrain on the promise of good

behaviour. The remaining imprisoned Party supporters were sent from Rumaitha

south of Bahrain to the prison island of Jidda. 876

The Administration decided on 24 December that it wished to exile to St

Helena: Al-Bakir, Al-Shamlan, and Al-Alaiwat. The Administration planned to keep

the remaining two frontline members (E Fakhroo and Ibn Musa) in custody in

Bahrain with the objective of reducing their sentences later. The ship scheduled to

carry the prisoners onboard was HMS Loch Insh, it called on two destinations en

route to St Helena, Mombasa and Simonstown. Travel expenses and

accommodation costs were to be paid by the Bahraini Government. 877 A letter from

the Admiralty to the Residency pointed out that it was inadvisable to have HMS Loch

Insh arrive on 22 January 1957 as HRH the Duke of Edinburgh was scheduled to

visit St Helena on board HM Yacht Britannia on that date. The ship carrying the

prisoners should arrive after 27 January, it said. 878

In the wake of sentencing an attempt was made on the life of a British

employee of Bahrain’s International Aeradio named Plummer on 27 December.

Since the assailant escaped and Plummer was not known to have enemies, Burrows

concluded that the attempt on Plummer’s life must have been politically motivated

following the sentences. The Resident recommended that the incident be given as

‘little publicity as possible’. 879

876 TNA, FO 1016/550, Gault to Burrows, 17 January 1957.
877 TNA, FO 1016/470, Burrows to FO, 24 December 1956.
878 TNA, FO 1016/470, Naval Message to Bahrain, 29 December 1956.
879 TNA, FO 1016/470, Burrows to FO, 28 December 1956.

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