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Chapter Nine

                  Because of Ihe absence of instilutions lo which certain authorities
                could be handed over, some aspects of the abrogation of the treaty
                relationship with Britain could not be dealt with promptly on the
                final day. The command of the Trucial Oman Scouts passed,  on 2
                December, from the British Political Resident in the Gulf to the
                President of the UAE after the appropriate military law had been
                issued in Dubai; but the actual handover of day-to-day responsibility
                was only possible on 22 December.115 Similarly, the retrocession of
                jurisdiction over certain foreign subjects which, in theory, had to be
                completed before the 2nd of December was a long and difficult
                process because new federal courts had to be set up and a number of
                federal laws had lo be passed for which Britain continued to press.116
                Even after the British Political Residency in Bahrain was closed on 26
                March 1972, some unsettled appeal cases were still pending, and for
                this purpose the British Ambassador in Abu Dhabi retained a brass
                plate engraved "British Political Residency" which was put up when
                he dealt with the few cases which dragged on beyond that date.
                  Thus, by necessity, Britain served as midwife at the birth of the
                federation. Britain had all along had doubts about a federation which
                included Bahrain and Qatar; it could now be satisfied that the infant
                was of the very shape and size it had anticipated. Because of the
                protracted handover procedures, the new legal requirements, and
                the need to allocate the duties of the Trucial States Development
                Office,117 Britain still helped to smooth the path for a few months
                while the federation look its first steps. However it was not long
                before the British Embassy took its place among the rapidly-
                increasing number of embassies opened in Abu Dhabi.
                  Britain had not succeeded in tidying up all the loose ends quite as
                neatly as had been hoped. In particular the border dispute between
                Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi was unresolved. In December 1970
                Saudi Arabia had repeated a territorial claim which would have cost
                Abu Dhabi much of her territory and most of her onshore oil-fields.118
                But Britain was by then confident that a solution could best be
                worked out between the two governments, possibly with the
                mediation of other Arab governments. This belief was justified and
                an agreement was signed in August 1974.
                Ra's al Khaimah - last but not least
                This State in the extreme north probably had three major reasons
                why it did not sign the July 1971 agreement between the other Trucial
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