Page 286 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

224 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
evidence in support of the Ruler's jurisdiction in the area is worth
considering by an impartial reader, despite its inconsistency with the
above-mentioned quotations from British authorities on the lack of
the Ruler's authority there.
In connection with Abu Dhabi's claim to the disputed areas which
are the subject of Article 11(a) of the Arbitration Agreement, the
British Government contends that it has since 1878, recognised Abu
Dhabi’s sovereignty over a piece of uninhabited coastal land, called
K-haur al-'Udaid,1 lying at the base of the Qatar promontory. This
British view was officially stated to the Saudi Government in the dis­
cussion on the Abu Dhabi-Saudi Arabia frontiers which was held at
Jiddah on 19 March 1937 between representatives of both Govern­
ments. The attribution of Khaur al-rUdaid to Abu Dhabi, which in
effect extends that country's territory farther 200 miles westward,
amounts to barring Saudi Arabia from access to al-Jiwa (Liwa),
Buraimi, and, generally, the rest of territories to the east of Qatar.2
It is noteworthy that both British proposed boundary lines (i.e., the
so-called Ryan or Riyadh Line of 1935 and the 1952 Line presented
on behalf of Abu Dhabi) were generally drawn from a point starting
from Khaur al-rUdaid. This is in line with the British recognition of
that place as belonging to Abu Dhabi.3 The Saudi Government which
I claims sovereignty over al-fUdaid maintains that British ‘traditional
support of Abu Dhabi's claim to the Khaur al-rUdaid could not
operate to transfer sovereignty over the area to the Ruler (of Abu
Dhabi)'.1
1 Khaur al-’Udaid was maintained between 1869 and 1880 as a settlement by a
certain section of Bani Yas tribe of Abu Dhabi, called the Qubaisat. When the
Turks occupied that place in 1871, the Qubaisat fell largely under the Turkish
influence, and accepted the Turkish flag. The British Government, therefore, found
it difficult to take military measures under the Treaty of Peace of 1S53, against the
Qubaisat to prevent them from committing piratical acts, unless they were brought
under the authority of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi who was a party to the treaty.
During 1871, Colonel Pelly, then British Political Resident in the Gulf, found a
solution to this problem by suggesting to the Government of India to recognise
Khaur al-‘Udaid as forming part of Abu Dhabi. This suggestion met with the
concurrence of the Government. Accordingly, the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi was
officially informed, later in that year, of 'this decision which now forms the
basis of Abu Dhabi's claim to this strip of land lying 200 miles westward of the
coast of Abu Dhabi. For a detailed account about Colonel Pelly's decision, see
I.O., Proceedings of the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department,
March 1872, No. 368, dated 11 March 1872. And see ibid., No. 370, dated
4 March 1871. f
-Saudi Memorial, II, Annex 19, p. 51. Conversation between Shaikh Yusuf
Yasin and Mr Rendcl (Excerpt), 19 March 1937. . . .
3 The Riyadh Line, proposed on 25 November 1935, is a modification or the
‘Blue Line’ which has its basis in the 1913 Convention. Sec Saudi Memorial, I,
pp. 354,411-12.
4 Saudi Memorial, I, p. 439.