IOR/R/15/5/155

This file is a continuation from IOR/R/15/5/154. It contains correspondence, memoranda and legal papers regarding lawsuits 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, and efforts on behalf of the Shaikh to reclaim the properties or seek compensation for their loss.

The papers primarily discuss the appeals and counter appeals regarding the ownership of the Fao property, lodged at the Basra Court of Appeal as part of the Land Settlement Procedure. Topics discussed include: attempts by the Government of Iraq and the lawyer of the plaintiffs, (advocate Sulaiman Shawwaf) to delay the hearings; the transfer of appeal cases from the Baghdad courts to the Basra courts; the selection by the court of experts to assess the extent of cultivated and non-cultivated land and the age of date trees in the gardens; and the steps taken to prevent the Shaikh from disposing of his date crop.

The papers also document the Shaikh's attempts to re-purchase the Bashiyah estates at auction, and the reimbursement of this payment by HMG. The file also contains several documents regarding proposals for HMG to be released from their 1914 pledge to support the Shaikh in the matter of the date gardens, in return for a lump sum payment.

The file primarily consists of correspondence between the Foreign Office, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent at Kuwait, and HM Consul-General at Iraq. It also contains copies of correspondence between the Shaikh of Kuwait (Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ), the Shaikh's son and acting representative in Basra (Shaikh Muḥammad Āl Ṣabāḥ), the Shaikh's secretary (Abdulla Mulla Saleh) and the Shaikh's lawyer (Hasan Abdul Rahman), as well as copies of outgoing letters to them.

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

• Report detailing the area of the Al-Sabah's property at Fao, ff 128-133.
• Aide-memoire summaries of actions taken in the Fao dispute for the years 1938-1949, ff 139-142, 155-159, and 175-177.
• Draft of the document discharging HMG from their pledge to the Shaikh, f 168 and 295.
• Arabic copy of the judgement given by the President of the Court of Appeal at Basra on 12 July 1949, ff 237-261, with an English translation at ff 279-283.
• Arabic and English copies of the decree by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeal for Land Settlement regarding the Fao case, dated 14 July 1949, ff 302-327.