Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 were engaged in bilateral negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, just as the British had done with this Convention. Also, attempts to obtain oil concessions from the Ottoman government added to the complexity of commercial arrangements. Finally, the Ottomans and British emerged as enemies within months of the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, as the outbreak of World War I diminished any hope left for ratification. Section I of the convention comprised ten articles concerning the status of Kuwait, and its territorial boundaries. It included contradictory provisions in that the British acknowledged Kuwait as an autonomous provincial sub-district ("kaza") of the Ottoman
Bahrain administrative reforms of the 1920s in "prosecution of war, piracy and slavery at sea" and Britain was to provide maritime protection. The treaty also recognized the Al Khalifa ruler as an "independent ruler". Six years later, in 1867–8, the British navy intervened after a Bahraini attack on Qatar. After two years, in 1869, they intervened again to end an internal struggle over power, and appointed Shaikh Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa, then aged 21 as ruler of Bahrain. In subsequent years, the British exercised increasing control over Shaikh Isa's communications with foreign powers, especially the Ottomans, who had claims over Bahrain and Qatar. The increasing