Page 381 - UAE Truncal States
P. 381

Chapter Nine

                  and Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Kuwait and Iraq was a general
                  consensus along the line of the statement of the Kuwaiti Prime
                  Minister, Shaikh Jabir al Ahmad, “We will neither welcome  nor
                  accept any foreign presence in our area, whether British or other­
                  wise,”on and while the British press interpreted the meeting of the
                  new British Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, with the Shah
                  in Brussels, as a cautious move towards continuing the British
                  presence in the Gulf, most of the Rulers of the Trucial Stales
                  intimated to the British Government that they would welcome the
                  retention of British forces in the Gulf.09 The Conservative Govern­
                  ment considered that the entire question of British presence in the
                  Gulf was still open, and therefore deemed it necessary to send Sir
                  William Luce on his fact-finding mission to Iran and the Arab States
                  of the area in August 1970.70
                    Thus most of the members of the federation were more anxious
                  than ever not to pre-empt the situation or to forestall developments
                  which they hoped for, by making firm decisions on important federal
                  issues. The next meeting of Deputy Rulers, scheduled for 22 August,
                  was postponed until 12 September, only to be deferred again until 24
                  October.71 Meanwhile Sir William Luce, after discussing with the
                  Rulers of Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai the draft proposed
                  by the second constitutional committee,72 sent a constitutional ad­
                  viser, Mr Holmes, to try to bring these four Emirates to a consensus
                  on outstanding constitutional issues. On his arrival Mr Holmes
                  proposed that he should meet the legal advisers of the four Emirates
                  together at the British Residency in Bahrain.73 The legal adviser of
                  Qatar said that the venue was inappropriate for an Arab consti­
                  tutional discussion; the joint meeting therefore did not take place. It
                  is probable that certain points, in particular regarding the capital
                  and representation in the Union Council, might have been agreed
                  upon.

                 The thorny issue of representation in the Union Council
                 The Deputy Rulers of the nine Emirates met on 24 October 1970 in
                 Abu Dhabi; the host, Shaikh Khalifah bin Zayid, opened the meeting,
                 and Mr Ahmad Khalifah al Suwaidi acted as Chairman for the
                 duration of the three-day discussions.74
                   The second constitutional committee’s draft had been circulated
                 and amendments agreed during negotiations between July and
                 October 1970. Unfortunately these changes were not properly
                 356
   376   377   378   379   380   381   382   383   384   385   386