IOR/L/PS/12/3841

The file concerns an incursion into the territory of Koweit [Kuwait] by an armed party of Saudi Arabian subjects in May 1935, their return to Saudi Arabia by the Kuwait authorities, and subsequent diplomatic contacts over the incident between the British Government and the Government of Saudi Arabia.

The armed party was said to have entered Kuwait territory in order to collect zikat on behalf of the Governor of Hasa from members of the Shammar tribe. The papers include discussion of the incident by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the British Legation, Jedda, the India Office, and the Foreign Office; a complaint over the incident by the British Government to the Saudi Government; subsequent diplomatic contacts, including the text of letters from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and further discussion by British officials.

The King of Saudi Arabia (referred to as Bin Saud [Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]) was said in extracts from Kuwait intelligence summaries dated July 1935 (folios 25-26) to be 'greatly annoyed' by British protests over the incident, and likely to retaliate against Kuwait. However, in a further incident (folio 6) in August 1935 Saudi citizens pursuing a fugitive were said to have followed procedure by carrying a letter with them. This is said by the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle) in a letter dated 29 October 1935 (folio 5) to show that the previous protests made by the British Government 'had had a good effect'.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.