Page 381 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

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
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