Page 330 - UAE Truncal States
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The External Influences
           This phase of the dispute was brought to a sudden end when, with
         the full backing of the British Government, the forces of the Sultan of
         Muscat and Oman and those of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, supported by
         the Trucial Oman Levies,75 moved into the oasis on the morning of
         26 October 1955 and forced the bloodless surrender of the Saudi
         detachment. The British Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, ex­
         plained his Government’s reasons for this action to the House of
         Commons that same day.70 The Riyadh Line,77 as amended in 1937,
         was unilaterally declared the frontier between Abu Dhabi and Saudi
         Arabia. This fail accompli laid the entire issue to rest only for as long
         as the British Government remained formally and legally the
         spokesman for the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The question of the frontier
          between the two Slates came up again as a major factor while the
          support of Saudi Arabia was being sought for the new federation,
          which was being created in the wake of the British abrogation of the
          treaties with all the Trucial States in 1971.78
            The surprisingly firm line adopted rather abruptly by the British
          Government in October 1955, after years of half-hearted diplomatic
          defence of what she nevertheless regarded as the indisputable rights
          of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Oman, marked the end of an
          era. For over a century from the 1820s, Great Britain had gradually
          extended its influence over the coastal Rulers of the Gulf while
          taking elaborate precautions against getting involved in their affairs
          in the hinterland. From the 1920s this stance, reiterated innumerable
          times in the correspondence between the British administrators in
          India and in the Gulf, was thrown to the winds to defend the
          territorial extent of the oil concessions. From this lime on the coastal
          Rulers who had signed concessionary agreements were supported in
          their efforts to assert their sovereignty over the tribes of the
          hinterland.
            When the concession-holder, PD (TC), was able to start ex­
          ploration for oil after the Second World War, these concessions soon
          took on a real commercial meaning and value. Protecting the interest
          of the London-based consortium of oil companies was seen by the
          British Government to be its duty even if this meant abandoning the
          long-standing policy of strict non-involvement in the internal affairs
          and in the hinterland of the Trucial States. The so-called Buraimi
          Dispute became eventually the turning point where, at first hesi­
          tantly, but eventually using even military force, Britain fully adopted
          this change in policy.

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