IOR/R/15/5/147

The volume contains correspondence related to the date gardens owned by the Shaikh of Kuwait, Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, in southern Iraq. In particular, the correspondence concerns the service of judicial documents emanating from the Iraqi Government on the Shaikh of Kuwait in connection with his ownership of the gardens. The Political Resident, Bushire, together with the Political Agent in Kuwait and the British Ambassador in Baghdad mediate the talks between the Shaikh of Kuwait and the Iraqi Ministry for Foreign Affairs in order to resolve the issue.

The volume includes correspondence from the India Office and the Foreign Office discussing the issue of the Iraqi Government considering part of the Shaikh’s land as mowat (land which is not cultivated because it is not cultivable), and therefore, to be confiscated by the state. The volume also includes correspondence from the Shaikh of Kuwait complaining against the Iraqi Government for putting obstacles in the way of his agents and officials administrating his properties. Upon request, the Shaikh provides a list of names of the heirs of Shaikh Mubarak who have rights to the date gardens.

British Officials discuss a few other issues including: the court case disputing the Shaikh’s ownership of the date gardens having been prosecuted by the heirs of Ali Pasha Al-Zuhair at the Court of Basra, the cancellation of the attorney given by the Shaikh of Kuwait to his pleader in Basra, Abdul Jalil Partu, the suggestion of appointing an Egyptian lawyer to plead for the Shaikh at court, the importance of the Shaikh’s cooperation in taking anti-smuggling measures, the Iraq Land Settlement Law, and the British Government’s proposals for a comprehensive settlement of the date gardens issue.