Dispute over frontiers between Saudi Arabia and Aden Colony and Protectorate and other Persian Gulf States

This file contains correspondence relating to:

• Colonial Office views on the question to be put to the Governor of Aden T Hickinbotham (1)
• US State Department asking ARAMCO not to enter the Mugshin area (2-3)
• Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur's visit to Shisar [Shishr] and Mugshin (4)
• Possibility that Saudi Arabia is using the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) to further its claims against Muscat and Aden (5)
• A Saudi aide memoire which complains of trespassing by oil companies in areas disputed with Muscat and Aden (6)
• Reports that Turki Bin Ataishan has collected 100-300 camels and is believed to be destined for Dhofar. It is suggested that Britain should support Sultan Saeed Bin Taimur in strengthening his position there (7, 18)
• Whitehall meeting which decided that the Aden-Saudi and Dhofar-Saudi frontier disputes cannot be regarded as separate issues and that the Governor of Aden should send military assistance to the Sultan of Muscat if necessary (8)
• An extract of a letter from J H Brook in Washington DC defending ARAMCO (9)
• The Sultan's request to Britain for reinforcements to strengthen Mugshin and for transport, drivers, wireless sets, and operators for Masirah Island (10, 12-14)
• Meeting with US State Department officials about the activities of the Iraq Petroleum Company in Aden and Cities Service Company in Dhofar (11)
• Present position on the border between the Muscat province of Dhofar and Saudi Arabia. It discusses defence positions at Shishr, Mugshin, and Al Ain, and the Sultan's request for RAF reconnaissance (15)
• Hickinbotham's recommendation that Britain not depart from its frontier claim and that military action must not be ruled out politically (16, 24)
• Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud's interest in the dispute and the potential Saudi reaction to a proposed note from C G Pelham (17)
• Maps showing the frontier claims by Ibn Saud in 1951. It also shows the Riyadh Line and the line beyond which the Sultan of Muscat makes no claim (19)
• Delivery of a note from Pelham to Faisal (20)
• Letter from Sultan Saeed Bin Taimur to B A B Burrows setting out his position with regards to the Dhofar boundary (21)
• Sultan's request for advice about the orders to be given to his military posts (22)