IOR/R/15/5/149

This volume is a continuation from IOR/R/15/5/148. It contains correspondence, memoranda and legal papers regarding law suits brought against the Shaikh of Kuwait [Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ] by the heirs of the former owners of the Al Faddaghiyeh, Al Bashiyah and Al Fao properties. The papers discuss the provision of legal assistance for the Shaikh of Kuwait, the progress of the various lawsuits, the felling of date trees on the Fao land, and attempts by the Shaikh's representatives to have the ownership of the garden properties settled under the Iraqi Land Settlement Law. The papers also concern the question of compensation to be paid to the shaikhs of Kuwait in respect of a) property potentially lost through litigation, and b) income lost through the imposition of Istihlak tax.

The volume primarily consists of correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Foreign Office, the India Office Political Department, the Treasury, the Political Agent at Kuwait, and HM Ambassador to Iraq. It also contains letters received from the Shaikh of Kuwait (Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ), the Shaikh's son and acting representative in Basra (Shaikh Muḥammad Āl Ṣabāḥ), and the Shaikh's lawyers, Ahmed Rushidi Bey [Aḥmad Rashīdī Bey] and Abdul Jalil Partu, as well as copies of outgoing letters to them.

The volume contains the following case notes and legal documents:

• Translation of a reply to the Plaintiff's Counsel's Note, submitted by Ahmed Rushidi Bey to the Basra Court of Instance, ff 28-39.
• Minutes of a meeting held at the Foreign Office on 21 April 1938 regarding the date garden properties of the Shaikhs of Kuwait and Mohammerah, ff 71-90.
• Print of the Land Settlement Law No. 29 of 1938, taken from the Iraqi Government Gazette, ff 150-154.
• English and Arabic copies of the Judgement of the Basra Court of Instance in suit No. 373/1932, ff 198-206.
• English translation of the Judgement of the Court of Cassation, in its capacity as a Court of Appeal, regarding five Aranas situated in the Tel Kaif village, ff 216-218.

The file continues under reference IOR/R/15/5/150.