Ibn Saud and King Faisal of Iraq meet in the Gulf
Ibn Saud and King Faisal of Iraq meet in the Gulf
Ibn Saud met, in official amity, the Iraqi King, Faisal bin Husain. The meeting took place at sea in the Arabian Gulf. Ibn Saud arrived aboard a Cable and Wireless ship; King Faisal was brought by the ship Nearchus; and the British vessel HMS Lupin carried the British Consul-General for Iraq (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Humphrys).

The first encounter between Ibn Saud and the scion of his old Hashemite enemy took place on Ibn Saud's ship. The final meeting was hosted by Sir Francis aboard the HMS Lupin and ended in expressions of mutual goodwill. While it would be inaccurate to describe relations between Ibn Saud and the King of Iraq as cordial, the meeting marked the beginning of diplomatic solutions to problems which had previously invariably involved bloodshed. In treaties of friendship and good neighborliness, both sides recognized the territorial integrity of the other.

Ibn Saud's willingness to exchange greetings with Faisal bin Husain, the son of his erstwhile enemy (Husain bin Ali, the Shareef of Makkah) indicated Ibn Saud's acceptance that the days of conquest were over and that the time had come to consolidate his own Kingdom.

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