Uqair - Conference of Uqair

Conference of Uqair

Lastly, Uqair was an historic meeting place of major early Arabian political importance. In 1922, prominent politicians and leaders met to discuss and from new boundaries of the growing Arab state under Ibn Saud, the new revolutionary leader who was conquering the peninsula and attempting to unite it. In attendance at the Conference of Uqair was Sir Percy Zachariah Cox of Great Britain. Representing the not yet established kingdom of Saudi Arabia was Ibn Saud himself. The purpose of the rendezvous was to harness and "guarantee the limits of Saudi expansion." (House of Saud, David Holden/Richard Johns, p. 79). At the meeting, the delegates formed the Protocol of Uqair to define the borders between northeastern Saudi Arabia with Kuwait and Iraq. Sir Percy Cox reportedly drew a line on the map from the head of the Gulf (in the east) to the Trans-Jordan frontier (in the west). It gave Ibn Saud a large chunk of territory by Kuwait ... but transferred another large slice of Ibn Saud's territory into Iraqi hands. And to meet the needs of the Bedouin tribes ... a neutral zone." (The House of Saud, David Holden and Richard Johns, p. 80). Back then, Kuwait was under the ruling of Sheik Ahmad Al Jaber, who did not attend the meeting and was later informed of the new borders.