THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL Peaceful Modes of Defining International Boundary Disputes with Particular Reference to the Practice of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its Neighbouring States Regarding the Settlement of their Land Boundary Disputes Being a thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Law in the University of Hull By Hussain Attiyah Al-Zahrani Bachelor of Internal Security Forces Sciences (King Fahad Security Academy) Bachelor of Administrative Sciences (King Abdulaziz University) LLM in International Law (University of Hull) 2002 Dedication To the memory of my parents To my wife To my children With gratitude, respect and love ii Acknowledgments First of all and foremost, I express praise and thanks to my God, Almighty Allah, for granting me the ability, health and knowledge to complete the requirements of my academic career. Without His help and assistancethis work would have never seen the light of day. Next, throughout the first twenty months of my research I was fortunate in having the kind and expert guidance of Professor Hilaire McCoubrey who was the Director of Postgraduate Affairs in Law School until he died while visiting Pakistan on 19 April 2000. Professor McCoubrey was dedicated to his students and I am indebted to him for his valuable suggestions and critical comments. I would like to express my sincere appreciation and deep gratitude to Dr Lindsay Moir, who took over as my supervisor after the death of Professor McCoubrey, for his invaluable moral support, generous devotion of time, guidance, encouragement, constructive comments and important feedback, for which I am very grateful. I consider my work with him as a turning point in my research life. Also, I would like to express my thanks to Professor Scott Davidson, the Director of the Law School who took over as my supervisor for the last four months while Dr Lindsay Moir was on study leave. He has kindly looked at the last draft of my thesis and provided me with invaluable comments and feedback. Many thanks go to the people who played one role or another in achieving this work. Of these, I mention first of all H. R. H. Prince Naif Ibn Abdulaziz, the Minister of Interior, H. R. H. Prince Ahmed Ibn Abdulaziz, the Deputy Minister of Interior, and H. R. H. Prince Muhammad Ibn Naif Ibn Abdulaziz, the Assistant to the Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, who have given me the opportunity to pursue my higher studies. I am also indebted to Lient. General Talal Angawi, the General Director of Border Guard (Riyadh), General Sulaiman Al-Rashid, the Assistant to the General iii Director of Border Guard for Military Affairs, General Ahmed A. Simbawah, formerly the General Commander of the Border Guard in Western Region (Jeddah) and Lient. Colonel Mishael Al-Matrafi, formerly the Director of Training Administration, now the Director of the Administration of Communications and Support in the Border Guard (Riyadh). My thanks also go to the staff at all levels of the following institutions for their assistance in finding materials which I needed: the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Library, the Institute of Diplomatic Study Library (Riyadh), Department of Military Survey (Riyadh), Arabian Naif Academy for Security Study (Riyadh), Council of Ministers Library, Consultative Council Library, the Border Guard Library (all in Riyadh) the Library of the Holy Mosque (Makkah), the British Public Record Office (London), and Brynmor Jones Library (University of Hull). I am also indebted to Mrs Ann Asbridge and Miss Sue McDonald at the University of Hull Law School for their kindness assistanceand friendly treatment over the research years and to Mrs Kathryn Spry for proofreading. Finally, many special thanks go to all members of my family, both here and back in Saudi Arabia: to my wife and my children here in Hull, who lived with me this study moment by moment and shared with me my hopes and fears, suffered and paid the price and provided me with a warm and enjoyable environment to enable me to complete this study and to my brothers, sisters, relatives and friends for their unfailing support. iv Table of Contests Acknowledgments ........................................................................... iii Table Contests of ............................................................................. V Table Maps of ................................................................................ viii Table Cases ix of ................................................................................ Table Treaties Agreements of and ......................................................... xi Table Abbreviations of ...................................................................... xv GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction 1 ......................................................................... 2. Purpose Study 3 of .................................................................... 3. Significance the Study 5 of .......................................................... 4. Organisation the Study 7 of ......................................................... PART I: NORTHERN BOUNDARIES Chapter I: The Evolution of the Northern Boundaries and the 8 Boundary Disputes ............................................ 1. The Evolution the Northern Boundaries 8 of ......................................... 2. The Saudi-Kuwait Boundary Dispute 38 ............................................... 3. The Saudi-Iraqi Boundary Dispute 46 .................................................. 4. The Saudi-Jordan Boundary Dispute 50 ................................................ V Chapter II: The Settlement of Northern Saudi Boundary 57 Disputes ....................................................... 1. The Uqair Conference of December 1922: The Settlement of the Saudi Arabian Boundary Dispute with Iraq and Kuwait ................................. 59 2. The Kuwait Conference (1923-1924): an Attempt to Settle the Saudi - Jordan Boundary Dispute ............................................................. 68 Haddah Bahrah Negotiations November 1925 77 3. and of ............................ 4. The Final Settlement of the Saudi-Jordan Boundaries (the Treaty of Amman 1965 ............................................................................ 86 Division Saudi-Kuwaiti Neutral Zone (1965) 88 5. The of the ......................... Division Saudi-Iraqi Neutral Zone (1981) 90 6. The of the ............................ PART II: EASTERN BOUNDARIES Chapter I: The Evolution of the Eastern Boundaries and the 96 Boundary Disputes .......................................... Chapter II: The Settlement of the Eastern Saudi Boundaries. 108 1. The 1934-7 Saudi-British Boundary Negotiations 109 ................................ 2. The 1949-54 Saudi-British Boundary Negotiations 118 ............................... 2.1. The Fact-Finding Commission 122 ................................................. 2.2. The Dammam Conference 1952 123 of ............................................ 3. The Buraimi Arbitration 1954 136 of .................................................... 4. The Saudi-Qatari Boundary Agreement 1965 151 of .................................. 5. The Saudi-Qatari Post-IndependenceNegotiations 153 ............................... 5.1. The Egyptian Mediation and the Amendment of the 1965 V1 Agreement .............................................................................. 158 6. The Saudi-Abu Dhabi (UAE) Post-IndependenceNegotiations 160 ................ 7. The Saudi-Omani Post-IndependenceNegotiations 162 ............................... PART III: SOUTHERN BOUNDARIES Chapter I: The Evolution of the Southern Boundaries and the 167 Boundary Disputes ........................................ Chapter II: The Settlement of the Southern Saudi Boundary 173 Disputes ...................................................... I. The Saudi-Former North Yemen Pre-Unification Negotiations 173 ............... 2. The Saudi-Former South Yemen Pre-Unification Negotiations 186 ............... 3. The Saudi-Yemeni Post-Unification Negotiations 193 ............................... General Conclusions Recommendations 217 and ......................... Bibliography 242 ................................................................ V11 Table of Maps Map 1: International boundaries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 230 Map 2: The Arabian Peninsula in the nineteenth century before the 231 establishment of Saudi Arabia and its neighbouring states. Map 3: The Saudi-Iraqi boundaries according to the First Uqair Protocol 232 (1922). Map 4: The Saudi-Kuwait boundaries according to the Second Uqair 233 Protocol (1922). Map 5: The Saudi-Jordanboundaries according to Haddah Agreement 234 (1925). Map 6: The final settlement of the Saudi-Jordan boundaries (the Treaty 235 of Amman 1965). Map 7: The division of the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone (1965). 236 Map 8: The division of the Saudi-Iraqi Neutral Zone (1981). 237 Map 9: The Blue, the Violet and the Red Lines introduced by the 1913- 238 1914 Anglo-Ottoman Conventions. Map 10: The Saudi Hamza Line and the British Riyadh Line of 1935.239 Map 11: The Saudi-Qatar boundaries according to the 1965 Agreement. 240 Map 12: The Saudi-Yemen Boundaries. 241 viii Table of Cases Ambatielos case (1952) United Kingdom v. Greece 40 Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries case (1951) 157 BuraimiArbitration (1954) United Kingdom v. Saudi Arabia 137,139,141, Burkina Faso-Mali Frontier Dispute case (1986) 12,13,32 Caroline case (1837) United Kingdom v. USA 204 Clipperton Island