IOR/R/15/5/151

This file is a continuation from IOR/R/15/5/150. 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 seizure of the Fao estates by the Mudir of Basra, the eviction of the Shaikh's fellaheen, and the eventual return of the properties and the fish and meat markets to the Shaikh's control; legal assistance for the Shaikh, following the conscription of his lawyer, Abdul Jalil Partu; the establishment by the Government of Iraq of a separate Land Settlement Area to cover the properties of the Shaikh in the Fao Nahiyah; and the appointment of Judge C Good to carry out the settlement procedure. 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, as well as proposals to discharge HMG from further obligations to the Shaikh regarding the garden properties.

The file primarily consists of correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Foreign Office, the India Office Political Department, 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 lawyer, Abdul Jalil Partu, as well as copies of outgoing letters to them.

The file contains the following legal and case documents (English translations unless otherwise stated):

• Copy judgement of the Court of Cassation regarding the referral of the Faddaghiyah case to the President of the Land Settlement Committee in the Fao Nahiyah, ff 103-104.
• Correspondence between Shaikh Ahmad, Shaikh Muhammad, and Abdul Partu, regarding the Tapu deeds for the properties, and the registration of appeal documents with the Courts, ff 170-176.
• Land settlement notifications from al Waqa'i al-Iraqiyya, ff 198-200, 255.
• English and Arabic copies of the compensation offer to the Shaikh, plus a draft discharge agreement, ff 218-224.
• A private note by Judge C Good of the Basra Court of Instance, to Major Galloway, regarding the Land Settlement Procedure, ff 261-262.

The file is continued under reference IOR/R/15/5/152.