Page 264 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

202 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
British Government, ‘became defunct’.1 A new development in this
conference was a statement presented by the British representative,
Sir Rupert Hay, on behalf of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi and Qatar in
which two boundary lines were claimed. With regard to Qatar, the
line claimed runs from ‘Ghar al-Buraid on the Dauhat al-Salwah
through three named points to Sa'uda Nathil, and thence through
rAqlat Manasir to a named point on Khaur al-'Udaid’. As regards
Abu Dhabi, the frontier claimed begins at ‘a line drawn from Sa'uda
Nathil to the southernmost tip of Sabkhat Matti, including within
Abu Dhabi fAqlat al-Rimth and Batr al-Tarfa; then a line from the
southernmost tip of the Sabkhat Matti to al-Qaraini and thence to
Umm al-Zamul'.2 This represented a claim by Abu Dhabi to lands
beyond those defined by the Ryan’s Line of 1935.

The Standstill Agreement, 1952
As a means of asserting its claim, the Saudi Government dispatched
in August, 1952, a party headed by Amir Turki ibn fUtaishan to take
up his position as the Governor of Buraimi. According to Saudi
sources, Jbn 'Utaishan, who established himself in the village of
Hamasa, ‘was accompanied by a civilian staff of between thirty to
forty persons—clerks, attendants, technicians, and policemen’.3 The
British Government termed this Saudi action as an armed ‘invasion
of Buraimi’.4 After further negotiations on the new situation which
arose from the presence of the Saudi party in Buraimi, the two parties
agreed to conclude a ‘Standstill Agreement’ dated 26 October 1952.
The purpose of this agreement was to neutralise the activities of the
disputing parties in Buraimi, pending a final settlement of the dispute.
Thus, it was agreed:
(a) The British shall remove the restrictions and obstacles imposed by
I them . . ., it being understood that the Saudis are also to desist from
provocative actions . . .
(b) The two sides shall remain at present at Buraimi and maintain their
present positions.
(c) After that discussions will be resumed between the British and the
Saudis.5
1 Saudi Memorial, I, pp. 423-4, 436-8; ibid., II, Annex 47, Records of
Conversations between H.R.H. Prince Faisal and the British Ambassador at
Jiddah (Excerpt), 28 February 1952; British Memorial, I, pp. 98-100.
2British Memorial, I, 98-9; ibid., II, Annex D, No. 36. The spot ‘Umm al-
Zamul’ is shown on the map submitted as lying at about latitude 22° 35' N.,
longitude 55° 10' E. Sec Saudi Memorial, I, p. 438. See Map 2.
3 Saudi Memorial, I, p. 444. Buraimi was visited a few months before the arrival
of the Saudi party by the British Political Officer of the Trucial Coast. This drew
a protest from Saudi Arabia. For this protest and for the British reply to it, sec
ibid II, Annex 55, 30 March 1952, and see British Memorial, II, Annex D, No. 39.
4 The Times, 27 May 1954; Lcnczoweski, op cit., pp. 146-8.
5 Saudi Memorial, II, Annex 76, Buraimi Standstill Agreement, 26 October 1952.