Arabian Boundary Disputes

ISBN: 978-1-85207-400-5 Extent: 20 volumes, 18,000 pages
Editor: R. Schofield Published: 1992
Paper: Printed on acid free paper
Binding: Library bindings with gilt finish
See sample pages: not available
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RESUMÉ

Arabian Boundary Disputes is designed as an historical and legal dossier on the development of the international boundaries within the Arabian peninsula, and includes material covering the Arabian peninsula´s most critical territorial disputes: Iran-Iraq, Iraq-Kuwait, Bahrain-Qatar and Saudi Arabia-Yemen. Each boundary is documented from its origins in international diplomacy up to 1992, the year of publication of this collection. In order to broaden the historical perspective and particularly to bring the documentary materials as close to the present as possible a wider range of international archival sources was used, and along with a wider geographical coverage and the inclusion of all pertinent contemporary materials, this differentiates Arabian Boundary Disputes from its forerunner, Arabian Boundaries.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Arabian Boundary Disputes is published in 20 volumes and extends to some 18,000 pages of documentary material, selected from that available in 1992, the year of publication.
The work is designed and presented as an historical and legal dossier on the development and current status of the international boundaries within the Arabian peninsula. A vast array of contemporary materials (up to and including 1992) is included to cover developments in the Arabian peninsula´s most critical territorial disputes: Iran-Iraq, Iraq-Kuwait, Bahrain-Qatar and Saudi Arabia-Yemen. These complement an expertly-selected and varied collection of archival materials which trace in great detail the development of state territory within Arabia.
A wider geographical coverage (see contents outline), the inclusion of all pertinent contemporary materials and the utilisation of a far greater and more international range of archival sources, differentiates Arabian Boundary Disputes from its immensely successful forerunner, Arabian Boundaries.
Detailed contents list for each volume, editor´s notes for each international boundary under review and a painstakingly researched and referenced introduction to Arabian Boundary Disputes keep readers fully informed of the background to the documents they are viewing; separation of the documentary records of each Arabian territorial limit into Key Documents and other sections dealing with the various geographical areas of the border zone means that each volume in Arabian Boundary Disputes can be used either as a clear and concise reference guide or alternatively as a reliable, representative and carefully-constructed historical work.
For both the policy specialist and interested generalist Arabian Boundary Disputes is a ground-breaking anthology. It warrants the attention of all those with a genuine interest in seeing territorial stability within the Arabian peninsula maintained and, in some cases, restored. Only by fully understanding the origins of current problems can we cope to live with them in the future.

DOCUMENTARY IMPORTANCE

Much of the historical documentation in these volumes is drawn from British Government archives in the Public Records Office and the British Library (Oriental and India Office Collections). Crown copyright material is reproduced by consent of the National Archives, London.
In order to broaden the historical perspective and particularly to bring documentary materials as close as possible to the present day, the following sources have also been used: United Nations: documents relating, inter alia, to Saudi Arabia-Yemen, Iran-Iraq and Iraq-Kuwait; USA: Foreign Broadcasts Information Service; USA: State Department: Records at the National Archives; USA: State Department: Office of the Geographer; British Broadcasting Corporation: Summary of World Broadcasts.

ARRANGEMENT OF VOLUMES

1 Iran-Iraq I, 1639-1909: Key Documents, 1639-1907 / Shatt al-Arab, 1843-1908 / Land Border, 1911-1908
2 Iran-Iraq II, 1909-1937: Key Documents, 1910-1937 / Shatt al-Arab, 1909-1935 / Land Border, 1911-1934
3 Iran-Iraq III, 1938-1992: Key Documents, 1938-1991 / Shatt al-Arab, 1939-1990 / Land Border, 1942-1992
4 Iraq-Kuwait I, 1830-1940: Key Documents, 1899-1940 / Land Border, 1906-1939
5 Iraq-Kuwait II, 1941-1992: Key Documents, 1947-1992 / Umm Qasr, Warba and Bubiyan, 1941-1991 / Land Border, 1939-1991
6 Saudi Arabia-Iraq, 1922-1991: Key Documents, 1922-1981/ Evolution of Border, 1923-1991
7 Jordan-Saudi Arabia 1923-1965: Key Documents, 1925-1965 / Evolution of Border, 1923-1965
8 Syria-Iraq, 1915-1935: Key Documents, 1915-1933 / Evolution of Border, 1918-1935
9: Part 1: Turkey-Iraq, 1919-1946: Key Documents, 1919-1927 / Evolution of Border, 1922-1946
Part 2: Iraq-Jordan, 1926-1992: Key Documents, 1932-1984 / Evolution of Border, 1926-1992
10 Saudi Arabia-Kuwait I, 1829-1991: Key Documents, 1913-1969 / Evolution of the southern Kuwaiti land border, 1829-1988
11 Saudi Arabia-Kuwait II, 1908-1991: Evolution of the Neutral Zone borders, 1933-1961 / Saudi-Kuwait and Neutral Zone offshore limits, 1939-1967 / Umm al Maradim, Qaru and Kubbar, 1908-1991

ARRANGEMENT OF VOLUMES continued...
12 Bahrain-Saudi Arabia, 1904-1958: Key Documents, 1958 / Evolution of Maritime Boundary, 1904-1958
13 Bahrain-Qatar I, 1818-1992: Key Documents, 1868-1957 / Hawar Islands, 1830-1982
14 Bahrain-Qatar II, 1818-1992: Zubarah, 1818-1960
15 Bahrain-Qatar III, 1818-1992: Dibal, Jarada and the Seabed Boundary, 1830-1992
16 Part 1: Saudi Arabia-Qatar, 1871-1965: Key Documents, 1913-1965 / Evolution of Border, 1871-1961
Part 2: Qatar-United Arab Emirates I,1837-1969: Key Documents 1869-1969
17 Qatar-United Arab Emirates II, 1837-1969: Khawr al Udaid, 1837-1960 / Halul island and the seabed boundary, 1830-1961
18 Saudi Arabia-United Arab Emirates, 1913-1974: Key Documents, 1913-1974 / Evolution of Border, 1920-1961
19 Part I: United Arab Emirates-Sultanate of Oman, 1855-1977: Key Documents, 1934-1977 / Evolution of Border, 1855-1960
Part II: Sultanate of Oman-Saudi Arabia 1913-1991: Key Documents, 1913-1991 / Evolution of Border, 1920-1957
20 Saudi Arabia-Yemen, 1913-1992: Key Documents, 1913-1992 / Evolution of western land border, 1913-1991 / Evolution of eastern land border, 1932-1988

CONTENTS OUTLINE

Volumes 1-3: Iran-Iraq, 1639-1992
STATUS at 1992: With his astounding volte-face two weeks into the invasion of Kuwait, Saddam Hussain apparently recognised a thalweg boundary delimitation once more along the Shatt al-´Arab, though there has been no formal follow-up to its development.

Early religious truces identifying wide strips of disputed territory, 1639-1822
Imperial mediation and arbitration of the border question, 1843-1914
Shatt al-Arab disputes, 1937-1975
Territoriality and the settlement of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War
UN peacekeeping operations, 1988-1991
Saddam Hussein´s volte-face of August 1990

Volumes 4-5: Iraq-Kuwait, 1830-1992
STATUS at 1992: The United Nations have announced a land-boundary delimitation (April 1992) which is essentially a refined interpretation of earlier British approximations of the boundary (1940 and 1951): Iraq withdrew from the activities of the commission after rejecting the 16 April 1992 decision/recommendation.

Creation of a territorially defined Kuwait, 1902-1913
Diplomatic exchanges of 1923 and 1932 fixing Iraq- Kuwait boundary
Safwan date palms and the Warba and Bubiyan disputes, 1933-1958
Countdown to the first Kuwait Crisis, 1958-1961
´Agreed minutes´, 1963, in which Iraq recognises Kuwait and its boundaries
Territorial stalemate, 1964-1988
Countdown to the second Kuwait Crisis, February 1989-August 1990
UN and the Kuwait-Iraq boundary, 1991-1992

Volume 6: Saudi Arabia-Iraq, 1922-1991
STATUS at 1992: As confrontation with the allied forces loomed early in 1991, Iraq cancelled all international undertakings entered into with Saudi Arabia since 1968: Saudi Arabia responded by registering all previous boundary agreements negotiated with Iraq at the United Nations in June 1991, the first instance in which the Wahhabi state had deposited territorial instruments at this institution.

Protocol of Uqair, 1922 & Bahra Agreement of 1925
Tribal raiding, 1920-1930
Bon Voisinage, Alliance and Frontier Demarcation, Accords, 1931-1939
Division of Neutral Zone, 1975
Border Treaty of 1981
Registration at United Nations of border treaty texts by Saudi Arabia, June 1991

Volume 7: Jordan-Saudi Arabia, 1923-1965
STATUS at 1992: Despite the apparent resolution of the Aqaba question with the agreement of 1965, prevarication early in 1992 suggested that the issue was not quite extinct. Any remaining questions which the Saudis may have harboured had certainly subsided by the time Prince Bandar visited a recuperating King Hussein in hospital during August 1992.

Failure of Kuwait Conference, 1923-1924
Hadda Agreement 1925
Anglo-Saudi Treaty of Jiddah, 1927
Persistence of disputes over Aqaba and Ma´an and the Jabal Anaiza, 1930-1960
Strategic land swap of 1965: The Treaty of Amman
Signature of maps confirming final, detailed delimitation of the boundary, 1969

Volume 8: Syria-Iraq, 1915-1935
STATUS at 1992: all juridical disputes proper over the border had disappeared by the mid-1930s. Functional disputes concerning the permeability of this boundary to the movement of people, goods and even water have been the order of the day with the rival factions of the Ba´th Party firmly entrenched in government in Damascus and Baghdad.

De Bunsen Committee, Sykes-Picot correspondence, 1915-1916
Dair al Zur question, 1918-1920
Franco-British Convention, 1920
Problems over the Nusaibin wedge, 1920
Tripoint al Jabal Tanf, 1931
League of Nations-sponsored Anglo-French agreement on boundary, 1932
Demarcation, 1932-1933

Volume 9 (Part 1): Turkey-Iraq, 1919-1946
STATUS at 1992: No juridically-based disputes: transboundary resource disputes proliferate - most importantly successive river disputes (Tigris and Euphrates): presence of opposition Kurdish groups in the border zone frequently dictates border policy of Baghdad and Ankara.
Sevres and Lausanne treaties, 1920-1923

The Mosul Question and the League of Nations, 1923-1924
The Brussels Line and the League of Nations decision of 1925, 1924-1925
1926 Tripartite Treaty of Ankara
1927 Border demarcation
1946 renewal of previous border treaty provisions

Volume 9 (Part 2): Iraq-Jordan, 1926-1992
STATUS at 1992: No juridicial disputes: every indication that the 1984 modification of the boundary is accepted by both states: Aqaba route became very important to Iraq during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War: is likely to be so again once sanctions are relaxed.

Question of territorial limits first raised, 1926-1927
Britain´s determined efforts to reach a settlement eventually bear fruit with agreement on delimitation by exchange of letters, 1932
Proposals to demarcate boundary following joint survey of border zone: problems on agreeing southern terminal of boundary, 1984
Renegotiation of 1932 boundary - text is subsequently ratified in Amman: slight change in delineation of southern extremity of boundary, 1984
Permeability of border to illegal trade with Iraq: concerns of United Nations that sanctions against Iraq are not being applied consistently, 1992

Volume 10-11: Saudi Arabia-Kuwait And The Neutral Zone, 1829-1991

STATUS at 1992: An agreement of 1988 reportedly disposed of all remaining points of confusion concerning the incorporation of the Neutral Zone into the state territories of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia still insists that Qaru and Umm al Maradim should be subject to some sort of common regime to reflect their position offshore of the former Neutral Zone.
Institution of the ´Red´ and ´Green´ Lines of diminishing Kuwaiti authority, 1913
From the Jahrah Crisis to the Uqair Protocol: Red or ´inner´ line of 1913 recognised as boundary: institution of Neutral Zone, 1920-1922
Ikhwan rebellion and the Kuwait blockade, 1927-1930
Trade, Extradition and Good Neighbourliness Treaties, 1942
By a series of agreements the Neutral Zone is divided equally between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, 1960-1988
Persistence of partial Saudi claim to the islands of Qaru and Umm al Maradim, 1992
Volume 12: Bahrain-Saudi Arabia, 1904-1958
STATUS at 1992: the 1958 accord was the first maritime boundary delimitation to be agreed in the Gulf, recognising the Bu Saafah Shoal as a Saudi feature but specifying that all future revenue accruing from the associated oilfield would be shared in perpetuity. The most spectacular and permanent infringement of the seabed boundary in recent years has been the construction of the King Fahd Causeway link between the two states.
Ottoman-Bahraini claims to Zakhnuniyah Island and the Anglo-Ottoman settlement of Gulf questions in 1913, 1908-1913
Status of islands, islets and shoals: Bain al Khabir and Bain al Saghir, 1937-1939
Bahraini oil concession agreements, 1925-1940
Seabed proclamations of 1949
BAPCO and ARAMCO activities at Bu Saafah, 1949-1950
Anglo-Saudi discussions of boundary questions, August 1951
Opinions of C.H.M. Waldock, 1952-1954
Bahrain-Saudi seabed agreement on 22 February 1958

Volumes 13-15: Bahrain-Qatar, 1818-1992

STATUS at 1992: Before the international courts can pass opinion on the respective claims of Bahrain and Qatar to the Hawar Islands and the Dibal and Jarada shoals, the present bout of procedural wrangling must first be dealt with. Whereas Qatar maintains that it was within its rights when unilaterally referring the dispute to the courts during the summer of 1991, Bahrain insists that an agenda covering all possible points of dispute between the two sides (this might even include Zubarah in one way or another) should be agreed, then jointly submitted.

CONTENTS OUTLINE continued

Early comments on the Hawar group and surroundings waters, 1830-1909
1913 Anglo-Ottoman Convention and the 1916 Anglo-Qatari treaty forbid any Bahraini role on the Qatar mainland, including Zubarah
Resurrection of Zubarah dispute in 1937 and failure of successive status quo type arrangements to resolve the issue, 1937-1954: Bahrain, whose claims to the locality range from full sovereignty to extraterritorial jurisdiction are ultimately told that Zubarah must be considered an integral part of Qatar, 1957
British ruling that the Hawar islands belong to Bahrain, 1939
Britain´s 1947 award for a Bahrain-Qatar seabed boundary, in which Dibal and Jarada are recognised only as Bahraini enclaves on the Qatar seabed, is rejected by both sides
Artificial islands and territorial water, 1951-1960
Mediation in the Hawar dispute passes to Riyadh as Britain departs the Gulf, 1971
GCC-brokered undertaking on behalf of Bahrain and Qatar not to escalate the Hawar dispute, 1982
Crisis on the Fasht al-Dibal, 1986: Saudi-sponsored resolution of crisis
GCC Summit dominated by consideration of Bahrain-Qatar dispute, December 1990
Exchange of fire on the shoals, September 1991
Extension of Qatari territorial waters, April 1992

Volume 16 (Part 1): Saudi Arabia-Qatar, 1871-1965
STATUS at 1992: For 27 years most observers had assumed that the delimitation introduced by the 1965 agreement was accepted by Riyadh and Doha: atlases recently produced in both states depict the same line. Early in 1992, however, Saudi Arabia closed an important transit route to Qatari traffic. The Khafus border post incident of 30 September 1992, which resulted in 3 fatalities, caused the Qatari cabinet to sever but not to abrogate the 1965 agreement.

Qatar in the 1913 Anglo-Ottoman Convention and the negotiation of the 1916 Anglo-Qatari Treaty
Anglo-Najdi treaties of 1915 and 1927
De facto territorial understandings between Ibn Saud and the al-Thani rulers of Doha, 1923-1934
Britain´s employment of the ´Blue´ and ´Violet´ lines argument in the long-running, though fruitless Anglo-Saudi frontier negotiations, 1934-1955
Britain pledges protection for Qatari Ruler in return for its mainland oil concession being granted to a British company, 1935
Underdevelopment of Shaikhly authority within Qatar: attempts at national integration, 1935-1949
Jabal Naksh dispute, 1935-1939
Dammam Conference, February 1952
Saudi-Qatari agreement, 7 December 1965: Qatar´s long-standing territorial claims are, for the most part, recognised formally by Saudi Arabia

Volumes 16 (Part 2) And 17: Qatar-United Arab Emirates, 1837-1969
STATUS at 1992: With the conclusion of the 1974 Saudi-Abu Dhabi border agreement, granting Saudi Arabia a 25km land corridor through the Khawr al-Udaid, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates could no longer strictly claim to be neighbours, though the 1974 agreement was, in truth, only a formalisation of a situation which had pertained for decades. Saudi Arabia´s land corridor entitles it to no rights over the continental shelf, however, so the 1969 seabed boundary negotiated between Qatar and Abu Dhabi still holds good.

British Residency at Bushire refers question concerning Halul island as matter of course to Abu Dhabi, 1939
Khawr al Udaid recognised as Abu Dhabi territory, 1871, 1881 and 1906
Ruler of Qatar recognises Saudi predominance in the Khawr al Udaid, 1934
Seabed proclamations and the issue of maritime oil concessions, 1949-1952
British authorities debate title to Halul island, after years in which the feature had been presumed as belonging to Abu Dhabi, 1951-1961
Award of Halul island to Qatar, February 1962
Qatar-Abu Dhabi seabed boundary agreement of 20 March 1969: provisions to share revenue from Bunduq oilfield

Volume 18: Saudi Arabia-Abu Dhabi, 1913-1974
STATUS at 1992: Boundary introduced by the August 1974 agreement has for the most part been demarcated, though the coordinates of the agreement have never been released to the public. Some difficulties have been caused by ARAMCO´s desire in 1992 to exploit the Saibah field, which straddles the 1974 boundary at the southern tip of the Sabkhat Matti. Though 90% of the field (known as Zarara in UAE) unquestionably lies within Saudi territory, there were reports that the 1974 agreement (or an annex to the instrument agreed at the same time) also specified that the field could only be developed jointly in a manner akin to the old Saudi-Kuwaiti Neutral Zone.

Britain´s employment of the 1913 Anglo-Ottoman ´Blue´ and ´Violet´ lines as its legal defence in its long-running negotiations with Saudi Arabia, 1934-1955: Riyadh Line of November 1935
Saudi territorial claims of June 1934 (maximum claim), April 1935 (Hamza line) and October 1949 (extension of claims in Arabia to embrace the Buraimi oasis)
Claims of Shaikh Shakhbut bin Sultan bin Zaid, 1937-1952
Failure of Buraimi Arbitration, 1954-1955
Britain unilaterally declares then imposes boundary delimitation (modified Riyadh Line of 1937) in south-eastern Arabia, August-October 1955
Saudi-Abu Dhabi agreement of August 1974

Volume 19 (Part 1): United Arab Emirates-Sultanate Of Oman, 1855-1977
STATUS at 1992: Many sections of the punctuated boundary introduced as a result of Julian Walker´s exertions during the late 1950s/early 1960s have now been demarcated. It is likely that a number of small disputes survive to this day. The conclusion of the Oman-Saudi border agreement on 21 March 1990 seemed to give fresh impetus to efforts to finalise the Oman-United Arab Emirates delimitation. For during May 1991 the two governments set up a joint committee to discuss bilateral issues including the border.

Investigations of Major P. Z. Cox into the limits of jurisdiction of the Sultan of Muscat in the coastal stretch from the Batinah Plain northwards to Ru´us al Jibal and the Musandam Peninsula, 1901-1902
Qasimi-Muscat disputes over Dibba, 1933-1944
Dispute over Wadi al Qawr, 1936-1955
Territorial provisions of the land-based oil concessions granted by Muscat and Oman and the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms, 1937-1953
Julian Walker´s efforts to settle the boundaries between the Trucial Coast shaikhdoms and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, 1958-1961
Dispute over terminus of Ras al Khaimah-Oman (Ru´us al Jibal) land boundary on the Gulf, 1977

Volume 19 (Part 2): Sultanate Of Oman-Saudi Arabia, 1913-1991
STATUS at 1992: Saudi Arabia apparently agreed to respect long-standing Omani territorial claims (the modified Riyadh Line declared by Britain during August 1955 and unilaterally imposed just two months later) in the boundary agreement of March 1990, which was ratified during May 1991. The March 1990 delimitation was then considered. The text of the March 1990 boundary agreement has not yet been made public. While it certainly has not yet been registered with the United Nations, reliable reports suggest that a copy of the text was supplied to the Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo.

Anglo-Ottoman ´Blue´ and ´Violet´ Lines, 1913-1914
Saudi Arabia´a maximum (June 1934) and minimum (Hazma line of April 1935) claims to territory in southern and south-eastern Arabia
British estimation of territorial limits for the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, September-October, 1934
Sultan of Muscat and Oman´s ´no claims´ line of 1 May 1937
Extension of Saudi territorial claims in southern and south-eastern Arabia, October 1949
Saudi Arabia confirms existing territorial claims (1935 Hamza Line) for boundary with the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, 18 October 1955
Saudi-Omani border agreement of March 1990 and its ratification during May 1991

Volume 20: Saudi Arabia-Yemen, 1913-1992
STATUS at 1992: Other than in its western reaches, which were settled by the 1934 Treaty of Taif and then demarcated during the following two years, the Saudi-Yemen border remains to be settled. Traditionally there has been a large overlap in the territorial claims of the two sides in the sand and steppelands to the north-east of the Wadi Hadramawt. The continuing marginality of tribes to the central authority of both the San´a and Riyadh governments in the central stretch of the disputed border zone adds further to the difficulties of establishing a clear boundary line.

Anglo-Najdi treaties of 1915 and 1927
Territorial understanding reached between Ibn Saud and the Idrisi, 1920
Mecca Protectorate Agreement, 1926
Incorporation of Asir into the Najdi/Hijazi realm, 1930
Saudi-Yemeni Treaty of Taif, 1934
Saudi Arabia´s maximum (June 1934) and minimum (Hamza Line of April 1935) claims to territory in southern and south-eastern Arabia
Demarcation of 1934 Taif treaty line by pillar, 1935-1936
Annex to 1934 Taif agreement giving recognition to demarcation, 1937
Philby´s approximation for eastern Yemeni boundary in the Mashriq, 1937
Aden Government reluctantly agrees to further territorial concession to move along stalled frontier negotiations, 1937
Saiar tribe and the al-Abr agreement 1948 Umm al Samim-Jabal Raiyan line proposal, 1949-1954
UN Operations on frontier during Yemeni civil war, 1963
Wadi´a border post incident, 1969
Yemeni unification, April-May 1990
Developments culminating in Saudi-Yemeni Geneva talks of July 1992