Page 383 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Nine

Attempts at mediation
Being very anxious to keep Bahrain in the federation, Abu Dhabi was
first off the mark trying to make it change its stance. At the beginning
of November Shaikh Zayid sent two envoys to Kuwait to explain lo
the Foreign Minister the position of Abu Dhabi and to enlist Kuwait’s
help as mediator. They arrived in Bahrain from Kuwait on 5
November and met with the Ruler, Shaikh 'Isa. On 21 November 1970
a Saudi delegation headed by Prince Nawaf bin 'Abdul 'Azfz went to
Kuwait lo discuss the breakdown of the federation talks; he stressed
that Saudi Arabia was strongly in favour of a nine-member
federation.
Meanwhile Bahrain, taking counsel from Britain, refrained from
declaring independence at the Rulers accession anniversary on 16
December 1970, but a constitution was promised on that day with a
hint that there might be elections in Bahrain to enable every “citizen
to shoulder his responsibility to serve his country.”80
Even after the conclusion of Sir William Luce’s second tour of the
Gulf in October 1970, the British Government did not slate whether
the plan to withdraw or the timetable set out for this would be
followed.01 The Rulers however were probably well aware that the
Conservative Government was also preparing for an early end to the
British protective role in the Gulf. In a message not unlike the one
sent to the assembled Rulers in October 1969 by the British Political
Resident in the Gulf under a Labour Government, the Conservative
Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, strongly advised the nine
Rulers to go on with building the federation, saying that their
“continued inability to decide on a federal structure now seriously
threatened international credibility of its future success.”82
Omani participation in the federation?
On 24 July 1970 a completely new dimension opened for the
federation when Sa'Id bin Taimur was replaced by his son Qabus as
Sultan of neighbouring Oman. Although the logistics of integrating
the large and very different country would have been formidable, the
idea to include Oman in the federation appealed at least to some of
the nine-member Emirates. Shaikh Zayid, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, was
the first to make personal contact with the new Sultan in a
spontaneous visit to Muscat on 9 August. The new regime in Oman
was probably nowhere greeted with more genuine joy and relief than ;
in Abu Dhabi. The many changes which took place during the first
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