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The Formation of the* Federation

        agreement was reached at long last on the real topic of the meeting,
        which was the Federation. A communique was issued on 18 July 1971
        announcing the formation of the Stale of the United Arab Emirates,
        comprising six of the Trucial States. Ra’s al Khaimah was not yet
        ready to compromise on the issue of representation in the Union
         Council. The Rulers approved a revised version of the constitution
        which had been intended for the now defunct nine-member Union of
        Arab Emirates. This constitution was now referred to as "provi­
        sional”, to come into effect on a date still to be determined by the
        Rulers and to be superseded by a permanent constitution.
           In their joint communique the Rulers expressed their hope "that
         this Federation will form the nucleus of a complete federation which
         will include the remaining members of the brotherly family of
         emirates.”99
          Delegations were sent to various Arab countries to explain the
         structure and the policy of the new Stale; Shaikh Zayid and Shaikh
         Rashid sent personal representatives to London to confer with the
         British authorities over the actual process of transferring certain
         authorities to the new Arab State. Membership in the UN, the Arab
         League, and other international organisations was sought.

         Making it workable
         The July agreement was a milestone in the creation of the UAE,
         providing the framework within which the governmental insti­
         tutions could be evolved in the discussions during subsequent
         weeks.100
           The withdrawal of Bahrain and Qatar from the federation meant
         that a large number of experienced civil servants were no longer
         available to set up and run the federal administration. The six
         Emirates were forced to look more closely at the availability of such
         people within their own borders. Also their attention was more
         closely focused on their own domestic problems, as opposed to those
         of the larger federation. These problems were accentuated by the
         poor communications which still existed then between the Emirates,
         as illustrated by the absence of an asphalted road across the hun­
         dred miles of desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai or across the
         mountains to Fujairah. At that time, too, the telephone system linking
         the Emirates was still rudimentary and only available to a few in the
         larger population centres. The authorities who had hitherto con­
         ducted the federation discussions could only begin to tackle the very

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