There is, of course, more to the current invasion of Iraq than meets the eye. Much more. For example, innocents abroad are reporting attempts to secure the coastal area of Fao and Um Qasr as though the concerns of the invading force are purely military in character. But there is almost universal acceptance that the Ercon-based administration of the US intends to redraw the frontiers of the Middle East, to ensure that one country alone determines the world's oil supply (see the Ecologist, April 03, The New Great Game). In that connection, it is worth remembering that in the years 1902 - 1908, before oil, the village of Um Qasr and the al Fao area (mostly devoted to date plantations in those days) were claimed, along with Safwan and Bubiyan island, by the Shaikh of Kuwait. In 1902, the Turks sent troops to underline the contention that they remained within the province of Basra. In the same year, Britain's Foreign Secretary Lord Lansdowne described the Shaikh of Kuwait, Mubarak, as 'an untrustworthy savage' and stated that his territory was properly confined to the town and bay of Kuwait. In fact, although Mubarak insisted on his autonomy, the Turks regarded him as their qaimaqam, or local governor, and paid him accordingly. His ability to stand up to the Turks depended largely on Britain's changing policy in the face of German and French competition; but partly on his close friendship with Shaikh Khazal of Muhammerah (present day Khorramshahr) who, among other interesting attributes, was the Grandmaster of Freemasonry in the Persian Gulf. Fao, Um Qasr (the Mother of Castles) and the islands were at that time acknowledged to be part of Basra province. But by 1909 Whitehall began to engage in a secretive effort to gain control of the Gulf outlet of the Baghdad railway, and to secure Britain's position in the Gulf. Bubiyan and Warba were occupied by marines and declared by Britain to belong to Kuwait, but the claim to Warba has never been established. In 1921 after Churchill's Cairo Conference, Gertrude Bell, acting under the orders of the High Commissioner Sir Percy Cox, and with the help of tribal shaikhs, drew the definitive frontiers of the region. Those frontiers included Um Qasr and Fao within the new Iraq, which in turn made claim to the whole of Kuwait as its sovereign territory. Bubiyan, an island that is partially under water, was deemed to be part of Kuwait. In 1922, Cox reaffirmed these frontiers at a conference at Ujair in Saudi Arabia. During World War 2, Britain created the port of Um Qasr during its occupation of Iraq. After the Gulf War of 1991, the US presented Um Qasr to the Shaikh of Kuwait, but the Anglo-American alliance claims to have taken it in battle from Iraq and to have met unexpected opposition.

IN CASE OF FUTURE CLAIMS EMANATING FROM THE WAR COALITION, THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT UM QASR AND AL FAO WERE DEFINED BY BRITAIN UNDER THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS MANDATE AS PART OF IRAQ AND REMAIN LEGALLY PART OF IRAQ.

HVF Winstone