CONFIDENTIAL RECEIVED INARCHIVES 1 JU.1960Section 1 BQ 108117The Land Boundary between Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The land boundary between the states of Qatar and AbuDhabi has never been delimited. Until about thirty yearsago the actual boundary line was not a matter of such greatimportance as to demand delimitation because the whole areais barren and waterless and has practically no regularinhabitants. Only relatively small numbers of tribes people moving seasonally in search of grazing for their camels, and occasional fishermen on the coast itself, were to be found there. 2. It has, however, for nearly a century been the opinionof the British Government that the boundary lay at or justnorth of the Khor al Odaid inlet. Historical Summary traw 1908 3. In 1908 the Foreign Office prepared a memorandum, oninformation supplied by the India Office, which stated thatif the El Katr peninsula......... is north of El Odeid, to which,in 1878, the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi was allowed (by the Britishpolitical authorities in the Persian Gulf) to assert his Annex 1 rights of possession'. Previously, in 1872/3 certain rights had been claimed in regard to the status of El Odeia" by A the Shaikls of Bahrain who, up to that time, had exercised a certain degree of control over the Qatar peninsula. "Theh British Resident, Colonel Pelly, was of opinion that, whilehuse Reus Bahrain should be acknowledged to possess certain rights in1878 M07 regard to pasturage etc....... those rights should not be hela2012 .23 as empowering the Shaikh to put to sea for the purpose of coercing any port in si Katr. He (Colonel Pelly) regarded BuravitTemaalVA).pl Perala El Odeid as properly belonging to Abu Dhabi''.4 In 1881 Shaikh Jasim of Qatar sought to occupy Odeidbut was prevented from doing so by the intervention of thePolitical Resident. / CONFIDENTIAL
