Page 311 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

INNER OMAN AND ZUBARAH 249
neither to interfere with his subjects, the Nifaim, nor to rebuild the
old fort at Zubarah which belonged to his ancestors. However, no
formal agreement was concluded by the parties on these matters,
which now remain as complex as before.1
Although the Shaikh of Bahrain seems to be still willing to reach a
conciliatory agreement with Qatar on the question of Zubarah, it is
quite unlikely that he will ever be dissuaded by any means, short of an
agreement which satisfies his own pride, from asserting his rights to
Zubarah.2 The great importance which the Shaikh of Bahrain attaches
to Zubarah is described by Sir Charles Belgrave, formerly Adviser
to the Shaikh, in the following words:
It [Zubarah] ranked higher in the eyes of the Shaikhs than any other
political issue and it took up more time and presented more difficulties than
any of the problems in which I had to deal. The individual attitudes towards
the Zabara Question of the long string of Residents and Political Agents
who came and went during my thirty-one years in Bahrain coloured the
relations between the Shaikhs and the British authorities throughout the
whole of my time there. To the outer world it was an affair of no impor­
tance, . . . but to the Shaikhs of Bahrain it was a matter affecting their
dignity, prestige and honour, and it was this which made it so difficult to
arrive at any sort of agreement.3
It can be seen from the above explanation that the question of
Zubarah, as it stands today, cannot be fitted in any legal classification.
It is not, in reality, a claim to territory; it is a claim to jurisdiction
over the subjects of a State in another territory.
1 This information is based on notes taken during an interview with Sir Charles
Belgrave on I April 1961.
2 Interview with Sir Charles Belgrave.
3 Belgrave, op. cit., p. 152. It is doubtful if Bclgravc's description of the Zubarah
question still represents Bahrain’s position on this issue, the importance of which
has now greatly receded. Instead, Bahrain is now giving top priority to the settle­
ment of her offshore boundaries with Qatar, while avoiding any reference to the
Zubarah issue which will only mar such a settlement.
The latest discussions on the Bahrain-Qatar offshore boundaries \scrc held in
Qatar in March 1967, during an official visit by the Ruler of Bahrain to Qatar. It
is understood that in these discussions, the Ruler of Qatar raised the question of
Huwar islands which, in his view, stands against reaching an equitable boundary
settlement. These small islands (better known as one island), H miles from Qatar
arc under Bahrain’s sovereignity. But Qatar now demands their ownership as a
condition for agreeing to an offshore boundary settlement satisfactory to Bahrain.
Not surprisingly, Bahrain refused to accede to Qatar’s demand, and the discussions
were therefore suspended sine die.
Sec below, pp. 300, 302-3, for an account of offshore boundary disputes.