IOR/R/15/2/106

This file contains correspondence between the British Political Agents at Bahrain and Kuwait; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire; the Acting British High Commissioner at Cairo; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah; Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah; the editors of the Mesopotamia Times and al-Akhbār newspapers.

These correspondence concern the personality and activities of Ḥāfiẓ Wahbah, known as Mulla Hafiz, formerly an Egyptian schoolmaster operating in Bahrain and an associate of Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah. Within these correspondence are details about Ḥāfīẓ Wahbah's expulsion from Bahrain, his contacts with various newspapers including the Cairo-based al-Akhbār and the Mesopotamia Times, and his activities as the agent of Ibn Sa‘ūd at the Kuwait Conference.

Included within these correspondence are the following newspaper extracts in Arabic from al-Akhbār:

• 'Ḥūdāth [sic.] al-baḥrayn' (Events in Bahrain) in issue 680, 17 May 1922 / 20 Ramaḍān 1340 ( f. 40);
• 'Akhbār al-bilād al-‘arabiyyah: akhbār al-baḥrayn' (News from the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain News) in issue 461, 31 August 1921 / 27 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1339 (f. 42);
• 'Anbā’ al-sharq: al-ḥūwādith al-kahṭīrah fī al-baḥrayn' (News from the East: Incidents in Bahrain) in issue 576, 12 January 1922 / 14 Jamādī al-Awwal 1340 (f. 43);
• 'Anbā’ al-sharq: al-ḥālah fī al-kūwayt' (News from the East: the Situation in Bahrain) in issue 478, 20 September 1921 / 17 Muḥarram 1340 (f. 44).

Folios 2-6 contain signatures in Hebrew script and have been misplaced and relate to 'File 5/13 Sayegah Khadori' (IOR/R/15/2/105).