IOR/L/PS/10/389/2

Part 8 primarily concerns relations between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and King Hussein of Hedjaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz]. Included are the following:

• discussion as to which ruler has the stronger claim to Khurma, and whether Bin Saud should be encouraged to begin hostilities against Bin Rashid [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd, Emir of Ha'il], as a way of diverting the former's attention from other matters;
• copies of a treaty between the British government and Bin Saud, which was signed on 26 December 1915 and ratified on 18 July 1916;
• debate about whether the British should supply Bin Saud with more arms and ammunition (to make amends for providing him with 1000 cheap Winchester rifles);
• discussion of the possible benefits of arranging a meeting either between King Hussein and Bin Saud or between the former's son and the latter's brother;
• discussion about the possibility of an officer from the Egyptian service succeeding Harry St John Bridger Philby as the British representative to Bin Saud;
• reports of Bin Saud having begun operations against Bin Rashid, and discussion as to how the British should respond;
• speculation on King Hussein's actions in Khurma and the implications for Britain's policy in the region;
• a copy of a memorandum from the Foreign Office's Political Intelligence Department, entitled 'Memorandum on British Commitments to Bin Saud';
• reports of an Ikhwan force advancing towards Mecca, and discussion as to how the British should respond.

This item features the following principal correspondents:

• High Commissioner, Egypt (General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate);
• Secretary to the India Office's Political Department (John Evelyn Shuckburgh);
• Captain Arnold Talbot Wilson [based in Baghdad and acting both as Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and as Civil Commissioner, following Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox's transfer to Persia];
• War Office;
• Foreign Office;
• Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger];
• Secretary of State for India [Edwin Samuel Montagu];
• General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Mesopotamia [William Raine Marshall];
• Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Baghdad;
• Political Agent, Koweit [Kuwait] (Percy Gordon Loch);
• Harry St John Bridger Philby;
• Bin Saud.