Possibility of return of Kuria Muria Islands to Muscat

This file contains correspondence relating to:

• Question of returning the Kuria Muria [Khuriya Muriya] Islands to Muscat. Legal advice says that an act of parliament needs to be passed. B A B Burrows suggests it might make the sale of Gwadur [Gwadar] to Pakistan more palatable to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur. It also contains a French document on the Anglo-Yemeni dispute over the Island of Camaran [Kamaran] (1)
• Report on a visit to the Khuriya Muriya Islands by HMS Loch Insh. It includes a list of names of the islands' entire population (31 males and 24 females) and the views of the Admiralty and Air Ministry on the strategic value of the islands (2-3)
• Reasons for rejecting the proposal to return the islands to the Sultan of Muscat, and the Governor of Aden T Hickinbotham's agreement that it should be dropped (4-5)