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THK LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
The British Special Envoy to the Gulf
j
1 In July 1970, the British Government appointed Sir William Luce1
i as its special representative to the Gulf. He made several
r.i : intermittent journeys to the Gulf region between July 1970 and
i March 1971. The aim of his mission was to carry out consultations
i with the various governments in the Gulf concerning British policy
:
towards the area. During the course of his tours to the Gulf, Sir
William Luce held intermittent discussions with the Rulers of the
proposed federation of Arab Emirates. In those discussions, he
;
expressed to the Rulers his government’s support to the creation of
■-] the said federation and explained to them the advantages of the
federation to the peace and stability or the Gulf area in the future.
He also devoted a great part of his time in the Gulf holding
discussions with the Rulers’ legal advisers in an attempt to solve the
constitutional differences among the Rulers in connection with the
P formation of the federation. :
Moreover, Sir William Luce made several visits to Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Iran and Iraq. He held discussions with these countries on
the political problems of the Gulf region, and exchanged with them
the views on the announcement of the British Government in
-n January 1968, regarding the withdrawal of its military forces in the
Gulf by the end of 1971.
After completing his rounds of discussions, Sir William Luce
returned to London on 14 February 1971, where he held final
consultations with Foreign Office officials on the outcome of his
mission to the Gulf. Later, he submitted his report (containing his
own analysis and findings on the situation in the Gulf) to Sir Alec
Douglas-Home, the British Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs.3

Formulation of British Policy in the Gulf
On 1 March 1971, the British and Commonwealth Secretary made a
statement in the House of Commons,4 in which he outlined the steps

1. Sir William Luce is a retired British expert on Gulf Affairs. Formerly, he was the
Governor-General in Aden Colony. Before his retirement he held the post of
=£1 Political Resident in the Gulf.
2. In his capacity as a legal adivser to the Bahrain Government, the author was
involved in the legal discussions held with Sir William Luce in connection with
the interpretation of the provisions of the proposed Constitution for the
Federation.
3. Coverage of Sir W. Luce’s mission to the Gulf is provided in Arab Report and
Record (ARR), (1971) issues No. 2, p. 54 & No. 4, p. 106.
And see Keesing’s Contemporary Archives, (1971-1972), p. 24500A.
4. A copy of the above statement was supplied to the author by the British Embassy
in Bahrain. A summary of it is published in: Keesing’s, op. cit, p. 24500 A ; Arab
Report & Record, (1971), issue No. 5, p. 135.