Page 107 - Arabian Studies (II)

The Powers and Mineral Concessions in the IdrisT Imamate of 'A sir 97

arbitrator, the Hedjaz Finance Minister, Sharif Muhammad Sharaf
‘Adnan, began hearing the complaints of both sides in mid-December
1927, but at the end of the month the negotiations were sus­
pended, I 1 2 and ibn Sa‘ud’s representative returned to Jeddah. In the
course of the negotiations Sayyid Hasan denounced the agreement in
the hands of the Company as a forgery; moreover, it should have
carried the signatures of the tribal leaders — a curious statement to
make fourteen months after the signature of the agreement and six
months after the beginning of the dispute. Sayyi Hasdan then
proceeded to put forward fifteen demands:

1. He should have a royalty of 25 per cent;
2. the concession area should be limited to the Farasan Islands;
3. Ibn Sa‘ud should replace the Resident as arbitrator;
4. there should be an increase in the amount of protection money
paid;
5. foreigners were not to be employed if local people were
available;
6. he was to control all the Company’s means of communications.
7. his needs in oil and gas were to be supplied gratis;
8. all Company employees were to be subject to local laws;
9. the salary of his delegate who supervised the company’s
operations was to be paid by the Company;
10. the IdrlsI government was to collect dues on factories which
were unconnected with petrol;
11. the company was not to trade in anything other than petrol.
12. the Government was to collect dues on coal bunkering;
13. the company could only build one storey houses for its
workmen;1 13
14. the company should grant the IdrlsI loans it needed which
would be repaid annually;
15. IdrlsI citizens were to have the right to buy shares in the
company at par. 1 1 4
As so many of the demands could not be met by the Company a
second conference was proposed for a time after ibn Sa‘ud had
commented on the results of the first conference. 1 1 s
After the conference Sharif Sharaf told Wolfson that ibn Sa‘ud
had two primary interests - the geographical limitation of the
concession and the replacement of the Resident as arbitrator as this
encroached on his own prerogatives. If these points were not settled,
the Sharif warned, ibn Sa'iid would upset the concession by
deliberately misinterpreting one of the articles to mean that if oil was
not struck within six months the concession would be considered
null and void. Ibn Sa‘ud attached little importance to Sayyid Hasan’s