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BAPCO in 1936. In his memoir Al-Bakir claimed that after a short stay in Bahrain
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in the late 1940s he returned to Qatar in 1949 to participate in the establishment of

a construction company there. He would visit Bahrain on a monthly basis until 1952

when he settled back there. He did not elaborate further on the reason of his
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permanent departure from Qatar. Al-Bakir’s work and activities prompted Charles

Gault, the then Political Agent in 1956, to search through his records. Gault revealed

that Al-Bakir before his return to Bahrain had actually worked as an ice merchant in

Doha, Qatar. During his stay in Doha a sharp dispute arose between him and a

member of the Qatari ruling family in June 1952, as Al-Bakir refused to sell more ice

than the allocated portions assigned during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Angered by his own relative’s conduct, the Ruler of Qatar banished the royal

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miscreant to Saudi Arabia and Al-Bakir fled to Bahrain. In Bahrain, Al-Bakir
immediately engaged himself in political activity, initially seeking to form a labour

union. The sectarian clash of 1953 in Bahrain between Sunnis and Shi’ites gave Al-

Bakir the perfect opportunity to unite both fronts and establish a politically-

oriented party.

The internal situation in Bahrain was ripe for such an organisation to appear

as regional transformations were taking place. Dr Mohammed Mosaddegh, the

Prime Minister of Iran, nationalised Iranian oil in 1951 and the Free Officers’

Movement in Egypt launched a coup d’état that overthrew King Farouk in 1952. The

52 ‘Aham Al-Shakhsiyat alti Asrat “Al-Hay’eh”’ [Contemporary Personalities that Witnessed the
Committee], Abwab Al-Wasat, 13 October 2004, 13.
53 A.R. Al-Bakir, Min Al-Bahrain Ila Al-Manfa [From Bahrain to Exile] (London: 1989), 28-29, hereafter
From Bahrain to Exile.
54 TNA, FO 371/120549, Gault to the Foreign Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 31 July 1956.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 14