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עמוד:*45
45 * reduced duties on other goods in order to stimulate trade in the emirate . 14 This attitude towards alcohol also manifested in a contract note, issued on 19 November 1952 . The contract note dealt with immigrant workers intended to work in the Dukhan oil field, and by its text, possession of alcohol was forbidden by the Government of Qatar . 15 The restrictions on alcohol were not declarative . Mohhamad Yanus, the Indian chargé d'affaires at Baghdad, visited Qatar and talked with the Indian employees of Petroleum Development of Qatar . Answering complaints about their conditions of service, he said that if they were not satisfied, they were at liberty to leave the country . Their request for permission to purchase alcoholic drinks produced the response that the official policy of the Government of India was prohibition . 16 One of the foreigners, of Irish descent, described how they had to get their booze from Bahrain and they had permits that lasted three months . According to him, things began to change only in the s . 17 1960 This policy resulted in criminal cases involving foreigners accused of being drunk in public and causing annoyance . The perpetrators were sentenced to deportation from Qatar for a year or two . However, this punishment was revoked by the Chief Court . Other foreigners, accused of acquiring alcohol without a permit, were punished with one to four - month imprisonment or fines . 18 An example of the strict attitude is the case of the Eastern Bank manager . The bank was established in 1950, a few months after the first oil exports . 19 In August of the same year, Bank Manager Smith was found drunk publicly, even though he had received warnings before regarding the issue . The Political Officer in Doha asked the Political Agent in Bahrain to instruct Eastern Bank to remove him from his position immediately . 20 The next day, K . W . Arton from Eastern Bank wrote to the Political Agent, requesting him to convey to the Political Officer in Doha : "This Bank's deep regrets at the incidents… and I anticipate that Mr . Smith will return Foreign Office Annual Reports1930 - 1960, vol . 3, [ FO 371 / 98324 ] Persian Gulf Monthly Diary, 5 April 14 p . 586 . 1952, John Moorehead, In Defiance of the Elements ( London : Quartet Books, 1977 ) , p . 148 . 15 Foreign Office Annual Reports 1930 - 1960, vol . 3, [ FO 371 / 98324 ] Persian Gulf Monthly Diary, 5 March 16 p . 575 . 1952, Graham, Arabian Time Machine, pp . 315,317 . 17 FO 371 / 126986 ] Her Britannic Majesty's Court for Qatar Criminal Cases Disposed of During the Year - [ 18 pp . 1 - 5 . 1956, Adam Hanieh, Capitalismand Class in the Gulf Arab States ( New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 ) , p . 19 Note 30 . . 216 IOR / R / 15 / 2 / 379 ] political officer, Doha to political agent, Bahrain, 29 August 1950 . [ 20
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אדמוני, אריאל
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