161dispute over the land boundaries of Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Muscat should bereferred to arbitration, but this proposal was rejected by the Saudis. It wasrenewed in January 1953.
102. In spite of the standstill agreement Turki continued to intrigue with thetribes and there were numerous protests by Her Majesty's Government andcounter-protests by the Saudis. In order to safeguard the interest of the TrucialStates it was accordingly decided to bring the strength of the Trucial Oman Leviesup to 500 and during the period of recruitment and training of the additionalpersonnel to reinforce them with Aden Protectorate Levies, and also to stationsome armoured cars in the Trucial Coast. These reinforcements began to arrivein January 1953. During that month a party of Bani Ka'ab carrying a Saudi flagattacked a Levy Post in the Wadi al Qaur. The attack was easily beaten off. InMarch a tax-collector called Ibn Mansur arrived at Buraimi with 38 armed men.In view of these and other breaches by the Saudis of the standstill agreement onApril 2 Her Majesty's Government informed the Saudi Arabian Government thatthey would no longer consider this agreement or the 1951 agreement restrictingthe operations of the oil companies and the Trucial Oman Levies (paragraph 98above) as operative.(102) Additional troops were at once sent to the Buraimi oasisand a loose blockade of Hamasah was established in order to prevent thetribesmen having access to Turki. Posts were also established in western AbuDhabi territory and Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd. were informedthat they were free to operate in the disputed area. The position locally remainedunchanged until the end of 1953.
103. In the note of April 2 to the Saudi Arabian Government the offer ofarbitration was once more renewed. The Saudis accepted the principle ofarbitration but while refusing to recall Turki from Hamasah insisted on thewithdrawal of Her Majesty's forces from the disputed area. Her Majesty'sGovernment insisted on the withdrawal of all forces by both sides. In Septemberthe Saudis brought forward a proposal for the mutual withdrawal of forces andthe location in the Buraimi oasis of small contingents of equal size by both partiesto maintain law and order. At the end of the year a draft arbitration agreementon this basis was under discussion.(103) Tentative agreement had been reachedregarding the procedure to be followed but not about the area which theproceedings should cover.
(c) Persia104. The Persian Government refuse to recognise the independence of theTrucial States and all nationals of the States are treated as Persian subjects whenin Persian territory (cf. chapter 6, paragraph 75).(104) There is much coming andgoing and much trade between the Trucial Coast and the Persian Coast and Persiannationality and customs regulations are for the most part ignored. The Ruler ofDubai and his son used regularly to visit Persian territory for hunting without anyformalities being observed and it was only in 1952 after the breach of diplomaticrelations with Her Majesty's Government that Shaikh Rashid was refusedadmission by the Persian authorities. The trade on the Persian side is largelyillicit, goods being smuggled into and out of the smaller ports without payment ofduty and in defiance of import and export rules.
105. In 1928 the Persians sent a customs inspector to Dubai but he waspromptly ordered to leave by the Ruler. Since then they have made no attemptto interfere on the mainland. They have however persistently asserted their claimsto Bu Musa and the Tamb Islands (paragraphs 64–69 above).
106. There have been complaints from time to time of the seizure of TruciaiCoast dhows and their contents by the Persian authorities. Such seizures havetaken place both inside and outside territorial waters and confiscations have beenarbitrarily carried out. On the other hand the dhows concerned were almostcertainly engaged in smuggling. Protests have usually been made by Her Majesty'srepresentative in Tehran but so far as is known only on one occasion has redressbeen obtained (chapter 3, paragraph 152).(°) In 1949 when a Trucial Coast dhewas boarded off Henjam by two Persian officials the crew cut the cable and made
(102) EA 1081/363 of 1953.(103) EA 1081/1168 of December 24, 1953.(104) Para. 23 at p. 91, P.G. 13.(105) P.R. to F.O. 59/10/50 of May 27, 1950 (EA 1398/1 of 1950).
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