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THE PRESENT LEGAL POSITION 75
Lorimcr, ‘requests by the Turkish authorities for extradition . . . were
. . . an admission of the Shaikh’s independence.'1

(b) Direct correspondence between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, 1935:
Anglo-Saudi contro versy
On 26 September 1935 the British Government sent to Saudi Arabia
a Note in which it objected to Saudi Arabia’s direct correspondence
with Qatar in the following terms:
His Britannic Majesty’s Government learned with surprise that the
Saudi Arabian Government had sent a letter to the Shaikh of Qatar on a
question that affects his foreign relations. Since these relations, as the Saudi
Arabian Government knows, are conducted through His Britannic Majesty's
Government by virtue of the special agreement (concluded) with him, my
Government hope the Saudi Arabian Government will in the future contact
them, and abstain from communicating with the Shaikh whenever an
occasion relating to Qatar presents itself . . .
In view of the language contained in His Majesty King 'Abd al-Aziz
letter to His Excellency the Shaikh of Qatar, His Britannic Majesty's
Government feel it is their duty to bring up this point so as to draw the
attention of the Saudi Government to the provisions of Article 6 of the
Jiddah Agreement, which stipulates that His Majesty King ‘Abd al-Aziz
undertakes, among other things, to support friendly relations with (the
Shaikh) of Qatar, with whom His Britannic Majesty's Government has
special treaty relations which were explicitly recognised by (Saudi Arabia)
in the article referred to.2
Being dissatisfied with the contents of the British Note, the Saudi
Arabian Government replied to the British Government on 15 October
1935 in these terms:
The undertaking of H.M. the King of the Hijaz and Najd and its de­
pendencies is confined to friendly and peaceful relations with the Amirs of
these areas, and contains no reference to any obligation on the part of His
Majesty not to write to them or to be written to by them. After the Treaty
of Jiddah, therefore, there was no change in the relations which existed
between His Majesty and these Amirs. On the contrary, these friendly and
peaceful relations continued fully and completely, as did the continuous
exchange of correspondence on various matters between them and His
Majesty, since this is in support of the friendly and peaceful relations which
His Majesty undertook to maintain. As to the treaties referred to in Article
6 between the British Government and these Amirs, they only concern and
obligate the Amirs themselves and do not place any obligation upon our
Government.3

1 Lorimer, pp. 915-17.
2 Saudi Memorial, II, Annex 15. The British Chargd d’Affaires at Jiddah to
Shaikh Yusuf Yasin, 26 September 1935. (Arabic translation of the text.)
3 Saudi Memorial, II, Annex 16, pp. 44-5. Shaikh Yusuf Yasin to British Charge
d’Affaircs at Jiddah, 15 October 1935.
It appears that Saudi Arabia has continued the practice of dealing with the