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and to allow Bahrain certain facilities, the circumstances had now changed, Qatarwas stronger than in the past, and could exert military control over Zubarah.Moreover, the trespassing by a party of Bahraini schoolchildren in 1952 on a visitto Zubarah had upset the Ruler of Qatar, and nothing could be done about hissubsequent actions.(4) In February 1961 the Ruler of Bahrain wrote to thePolitical Resident setting out his claim to Zubarah and expressing himself unableto accept as a satisfaction of his claim the mere recognition of proprietary rights,a solution that had been proposed in Her Majesty's Government's letter to himof 10 August, 1957.) Replying to this letter in July 1961, the Political Agentstated that Her Majesty's Government's views remained as explained by thePolitical Resident in 1957.(*) In 1961, Shaikh Salman, Ruler of Bahrain, died,and the ex-ruler of Qatar, Shaikh Ali, visited Bahrain to offer condolences. Thegesture met with no response, and the Ruler of Qatar, out of patience with theBahrainis, built palaces at Zubarah in 1962. The present Ruler of Bahrain hasinherited some of his father's obsession with Zubarah but since his accession hehas not actively pursued his claims.
The Bahrain-Qatar sea-bed
6. The origins of the sea-bed dispute between Qatar and Bahrain are fullydescribed in PG 53, pages 26-28, paragraphs 42-47. In 1947 Her Majesty'sGovernment laid down a sea-bed boundary between Bahrain and Qatar to enablethe Bahrain Petroleum Company to explore for oil. It was accepted, with certainreservations, by Qatar, but not by Bahrain, who refused to recognise theconsiderable advantages given by the 1947 line to Qatar. After raising the matterconstantly over the years, the late Ruler of Bahrain produced a memorandum in1961 which claimed a revised median line much more favourable to Bahrain. Thememorandum was transmitted in 1964 to the Ruler of Qatar, whose reply was stillawaited at the end of the year.(')
(B) ABU DHABI
7. Relations between Abu Dhabi and Qatar remain hostile because ofdisputes over various islands and over the Khor al-Odaid.
8. Conflicting claims to the off-shore islands situated between Qatar andAbu Dhabi intensified in 1959 when the Shell Oil Company was granted aconcession by the Ruler of Qatar in an area which included several of the islands,and in particular Halul Island, which had been the central point at issue betweenthe two shaikhdoms. An incident in December 1959, when the Ruler of AbuDhabi ordered the arrest of a Qatari fishing expedition which he claimed wastrespassing in Abu Dhabi waters, showed that a definite statement on theownership of the islands in question was urgently needed.
9. In 1961, a mission consisting of Mr. Charles Gault, a former PoliticalAgent in Bahrain, and Professor Anderson of the London School of Oriental andAfrican Studies was set up to advise on the ownership of the disputed islands.The mission's findings, published in July 1961, were that the island of Halulbelonged to Qatar but that the remaining islands (with the exception of Las Hat,and Shura'awa, the ownership of which was unascertainable) belonged to AbuDhabi. Her Majesty's Government endorsed the findings, and, as was expected,each side showed gratitude for its awards and refused to recognise those givento the other.(*) Shaikh Shakhbut continues to maintain that Halul belongs toAbu Dhabi.(*)
Khor al-Odaid
10. A history of this dispute is given in PG 53, pages 124–5, paragraphs 21-4.Further excessive claims by the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958 toterritory in Qatar as far north as Umm al Hul and the island of Bushairiyah wereall rejected. This controversy also involved Saudi Arabia (which had claimedthe Khor in 1935) and the task of Her Majesty's Government in 1960 was to
(4) PR to FO, Despatch No. 29 of 19 February, 1958 (EA 1088/1).(5) Volume II, Chapter 4, Appendix A (ii).O Volume II, Chapter 4, Appendix A (iii).(7) FO to PR, BB 1081/8 of 7 July, 1964.() FO Minute of 5 July, 1961 (BO 1941/22 of 1961).(9) Doha to PR, 1081/1 of 26 July, 1964 (BQ 1081/4 of 1964).
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