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This file relates to an operation by the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur, to occupy Nizwa, the base of the Imam of Oman Ghalib Bin Ali Al Hina'i, which was backed by Britain and code-named ‘Full Blast’. It covers correspondence on: Analyse de l'article de Abu Ishaq Itfayyish : "Oman...a new Arab State awaiting its turn."

This file contains correspondence relating to: Arab press reports about the occupation of Nizwa, including a statement [translation enclosed] by the Imam of Oman's envoy Sheikh Atfish entitled, 'The British occupy the country of this Man. Oman … a new Arab State awaiting its turn' (1, 3) Assistance for the Chicago Daily News correspondent George Weller during his visit to Buraimi, Nizwa and Oman; the Sultan's refusal to grant permission to visit, and Weller's subsequently hostile article. It also contains a cutting from the Washington Post: 'UN Appeal: Saudi King to Air Fight With British' (2, 6) F C L Chauncy’s meeting with the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur after the occupation of Nizwa. It describes the Sultan's entry and discusses the search for the Imam of Oman Ghalib Al Hina'i and his brother Taleb Al Hina'i (4) W R Hay's comments on an economic report (5) Reports from a Buraimi tribesman that Saudi Arabia attempted to persuade 300 émigré Omanis to fly to Firq and defend Nizwa (7) The Sultan's reply to the Prime Minister of Iraq Nuri Pasha's congratulations on the success of the Nizwa operation (8) The Sultan's attitude towards the visit of correspondents and the suggestion he ask Cities Services oil company and Wendell Phillips to act as his publicity agents in the US and counter the influence of the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) (10, 15, 20, 22) Reports in Al Ahram that Sheikh Atfish has asked for Arab aid for the Imam of Oman (11) Arab press reports of mutiny and resistance against Britain in Muscat and Oman (12, 14) Information that Taleb has arrived in Dammam in Saudi Arabia (13) B A B Burrows' discussion with Sultan Saeed Bin Taimur concerning: the reorganisation of the Sultan's Armed Forces; the Sultan's plans for the future development of the interior; and the proposed administrative arrangements for Nizwa (16) Occupation of Nizwa and the background of tribal politics in Oman. It also contains: 'A Note on the Imam's Administration in the Interior of Oman', which includes a list of tribes supporting the Imam; and a 'Brief Note on the Internal History and Politics of Muscat and Oman up to the Agreement of Sib [Seeb] 1920' (17) History of Muscat and Oman. It also contains copies of correspondence from the Imam to the Sultan (18) Pressure from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria for including the question of the Imamate of Oman's admittance to the Arab League at the next session and suggestions for the Sultan to resist this (19, 21) Expenses incurred during the endeavour to apprehend Taleb Al Hina'i (23) Letter from Libyan dentist Yusef Al Barouni to the Arab League about Buraimi and Oman (24) Rumours of the Imam of Oman's activities and possible move to Saudi Arabia (25)

This file contains notes on administration reports in the Muscat Consulate, covering the years 1873-1940. These notes were written for the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and the extracts referred to relate to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman's relations with the tribes of the interior. It includes a note on the 1920 Treaty of Sib [Seeb]. f° 28: The danger threatening Oman from Ihn Saud was discussed. and there is little doubt that Sulaiman el Baruni, the Tripoli agitator, who was spending the hot weather with Isa bin Saleh, took a leading part in the deliberations. This Sulaiman el Raruni has given both the French and the Italians a great deal of trouble in past years, and was in fact detained as a political detenu by the French in Paris until about 18 months ago. As he was not permitted by either of these Governments to go back to any place on the Mediterranean seaboard of Africa he came to Arabia, visited Mecca, and then came on to Mascat. He is religious leader of the Ibadhi persuasion, which sect is strongest in Oman. During his stay at Muscat llis Highness decorated him with the Order of Sayidiya. The result of the deliberations was that it was decided to weld together the Omani tribes against Ibn Saud and to force those tribes suspected of Wahabi leanings, and therefore of friendliness to Ibn Saud, to comply with the wishes of the majority of the Oman tribes. f° 29-30 : 1927 : The Imam formed a council of four officials in Nezwa. Included was Sulaiman Baruni.

Letters sent to Harold Beeley on the Treaty of Sib and tactics at the UN, with regard to representations to European, Latin American and certain Arab posts. The text of the Treaty is attached, with discussions on its significance to the debate, alongside reports on the countries for and against inscription of Oman on the UN Agenda (86) Role played by the Sudanese delegation (87) Recommendation for lobbying in certain Afro-Asian countries and the suggestion that representations to Arab countries in Africa would be useless. It also includes telegrams to Arab capitals on points to raise with their respective governments (88) Suggestions on representations to various governments. It also includes a suggestion to thank the French for their support against inscription (91) Talk with Hermann Eilts about American desire to abstain on a moderate resolution due to worries around the renewal of the Dhahran base agreement with Saudi Arabia. It also includes a discussion about Iraqi arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia for Omani rebels (92) Confirmaton that the text of the Treaty of Sib published in The New York Times came from an Arab source (93) Guidance to Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO) on representations to their governments (94) J F Walker’s approach to the Norwegians and the correction of historical inaccuracies in previous communication (95) Request for information on Muscat and Oman for the Nigerian Government (96) Postponement of representations to the Sudanese government until early January 1961 (97) The Lebanese Government’s awareness of HMG’s disappointment in their actions on inscription at the UN, with no opportunity to raise the matter further at present (98) Comments from Baghdad Radio on action at the UN (99) Representations to Libya (100) Attitude of HMG to Algeria and its possible effect on Libyan attitudes towards Oman (101) Representations to Jordan (102) Decision not to ask France to lobby French Africans (103) Estimate on the voting on the Oman item at the UN (104)

This volume relates to proposed and planned visits by the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] to Japan, the United States, Europe (i.e. England, France, Germany and Italy), and India. Related matters of discussion include the following: the Sultan's correspondence with foreign powers; arrangements for the Sultan's visit to England in March 1938; details of the Sultan's visit to Bombay in April 1940 for a consultation with an eye specialist; arrangements for the Sultan's trip to Karachi, where his father resides (January 1941). The volume features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary of State for India; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman; officials of the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Government of India's External Affairs Department. Included with the correspondence are the following items: a copy of a programme for the visit to Britain of the Sultan's father [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] in September-October 1928 (ff 10-17); a copy of a memorandum on the history of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, produced in preparation of the aforementioned visit (ff 48-52); an India Office account of the Sultan's official visit to England, which began on 28 March and ended on 11 April 1938 (ff 98-101); an original programme for the 1938 visit (ff 112-121). The Arabic language material consists of a single letter received by the Political Agent from the Sultan (an English translation is included). There is no material in the volume covering the year 1939.

The volume contains correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven Fowle), the Political Agent at Bahrain (Percy Gordon Loch), the Political Agent at Muscat (Ralph Ponsonby Watts), the India Office (Maurice Clauson), Petroleum Concessions Limited (Major Frank Holmes, John Skliros, Stephen Hemsley Longrigg) and the Standard Oil Company of California (Hamilton R Ballantyne) regarding Petroleum Concessions Limited’s interest in an oil concession in Muscat and their intention of opening negotiations with the Sultan of Muscat and Oman (Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd) which were delayed owing to the Sultan extending his stay in the interior of his country near Dhofar [Zufār]. Included in the file are copies in Arabic and English of the proposed concession agreement for Muscat and Oman, including correspondence regarding possible amendments to the agreement and copies of the various drafts which can be found at folios 5-20, 28-40, 109-124, 136-139, 144-159 and 195-210.Also discussed is correspondence between the Sultan of Muscat and the Standard Oil Company of California, including samples of oil seepages found near Dhofar which were sent to the company for assessment but were not found to contain crude oil. Also discussed are the concerns of British authorities at Standard Oil’s attempts to acquire concessions in the Persian Gulf and conversations between the Company’s representative in London and the India Office at which the Company were made aware that Petroleum Concessions Limited had been given first right of negotiation in that area.Other matters of interest within the file include: concerns over possible reactions by the Bani Bu Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī] tribe to any negotiations for, or grant of, an oil concession in Muscat, which would cover the Sur district where they held power; discussion regarding the difficulty of defining the boundaries for the Imamate of Oman; a visit paid by Major Holmes to Cairo and the British authorities in the Persian Gulf interest in knowing who he had met and what he had discussed whilst there; correspondence regarding Count Byron de Prorok and his wife Alice who had travelled from Aden to Muscat and Bahrain with the intention of searching for antiquities and archaeological sites in the region, and Tullio Pastori who was visiting Muscat and Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] to recruit labour for an Italian road construction project in Eritrea; and British officials suspicions that their visits to the area were on behalf of an Italian Oil concern, which were concluded to be unfounded. A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 227-236.

Correspondence relating to the succession to Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr], Sultan of Muscat, in the event of his sudden demise. Said bin Taimur felt that no member of the Royal Family met the two criteria required for his succesor: to hold the same views as his own about the State's close connection with the British Government and to be personally acceptable to the majority of the people. Includes notes by Major Tom Hickinbotham, Political Agent, Muscat, on four members of the Al Bu SaRoyal Family: Saiyid Shahab bin Faisal bin Turki [Shahāb Fayṣal bin Turkī]; Saiyid Nadir bin Faisal [Nādir bin Fayṣal]; Saiyid Hamad bin Faisal; Saiyid Tarik bin Taimur[Tāriq bin Taymūr]; Saiyid Majid bin Taimur [Mājid bin Taymūr]. A letter headed 'Most Secret' from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department describes a conversation between the Resident and Sultan Said bin Taimur in which the Sultan intimated that he would prefer a British Officer to fill the post of Regent rather than any members of his family. Correspondents include Major Tom Hickinbotham, Political Agent and HBMs Consul, Muscat; Political Resident Persian Gulf; R R Burnett, Secretary to the Government of India, External Affairs Department, New Delhi.

Correspondence, memoranda, and minutes relating to relations between the Sultan of Muscat and other powers, including the British. Included in the file: numerous notes and reports by the Political Agent in Muscat on the Sultan's relations with the Americans (folio 3), the tribes of the interior of Oman (folios 25-31 and 39-47), and the British officers themselves (folios 7 and 34-37) correspondence from the Sultan of Muscat, Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] regarding the trade in dates and his desire that no official correspondence of such matters be exchanged or retained (folios 13-15) an extract from Muscat Intelligence Summary No. 2, 1-15 January 1940, regarding the Muscat government's public notices prohibiting trade with Germany.

Fortnightly news summaries sent by the Political Agent, Muscat, to the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf and distributed from there to various other British and Indian Government offices. From 1 April 1934 they are referred to as intelligence summaries. The reports cover various subjects, each given their own sub-heading, such as British interests, aviation, local interests, foreign interests, meteorological, shipping, Royal Air Force, Navy, and miscellaneous. Events of note are sometimes given their own sub-heading within a report. Most of the reports cover a period of two weeks but occasionally they may cover a month or more. The earliest report is that of the period 1 to 15 August 1933 and the last is 16 to 31 October 1945. There are the following gaps: 16 December 1934 to 31 March 1935 16 to 31 December 1940 1 December 1941 to 15 January 1942 1 to 15 December 1942 1 to 15 June 1943 1 to 15 October 1944 Also contained within the file are India Office notes on sections of interest for some of the reports.

The file contains correspondence regarding the potential employment of Major Patrick T Fforde, formerly of the Indian Army, by the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. As well as Fforde, the primary correspondents are: Foreign Office; Commonwealth Relations Office; Political Resident, Persian Gulf. The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

The file contains correspondence from Major Tom Hickinbotham, Political Agent and HM Consul, Muscat, to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, which is forwarded to the Secretary of State for India. The correspondence relates that, on the pretext that certain of his adherents had been murdered, Mohammad bin Abdullah al Khalili, Imam of Inner Oman, had taken control of the fort at Ibri in the Dhahirah, formerly in the hands of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. It is suggested that a more likely motivation for this action was to take control of the area in which Petroleum Concessions Ltd had been most interested. The Political Resident in the Gulf suggests that it would be a set-back for British interests if the Sultan were to lose ground in this area, and after a number of letters providing updates of the situation the correspondence ends with a letter from Major Hickinbotham informing that Saiyid Shahab bin Faisal, Regent and Minister for External Affairs, Muscat, had been contacted by Ali bin Said of Ainane, offering surrender of the strategically-important fort at Ainane to the Sultan on terms, in consequence of pressure from the Imam. The Regent proposed to discuss terms, an action which gained Major Hickinbotham's approval. The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the front of the correspondence.