Page 223 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

THE FRAMEWORK OF THE UNITED NATIONS 161
meat’ which docs not prejudice the position taken by either party.1
In December 1965 the General Assembly approved this report of the
Committee and passed a resolution calling on Britain to withdraw
her military forces from Oman and to remove all forms of British
domination in the area. The resolution also called for ‘self-determina­
tion’ in Oman. Acting on behalf of the Sultan, the British Government
disapproved the report in question and voted against the General
Assembly's resolution.2
The Shaikhdoms
In connection with the Gulf Shaikhdoms, it may be submitted, in the
light of the general principles referred to above, that their disputes
with the United Kingdom can, probably, be brought before the
United Nations if they give rise to situations analogous to those cases
referred to above (i.e., if such disputes constitute a threat to the peace,
as envisaged in Article 39 of the Charter). However, it should be stated
that the United Kingdom would have no right to resort to force in the
event of disputes with the Gulf Shaikhdoms. This is doubly so, because
of her obligations under the United Nations Charter arid of the nature
of her treaties with the Gulf States which do not allow her to interfere
in their internal affairs or act contrary to their political progress
towards full independence.

QUALIFICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE
UNITED NATIONS
Are the Gulf States eligible for membership of the United Nations?
According to Article 4 of the Charter,

Membership ... is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the
obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the
Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
These are the only conditions of membership of new States in the
United Nations.3
It is clear from the above Article that («) the word ‘states’ refers to
sovereign independent States,4 and (b) the phrase ‘in the judgment of

1 Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Oman, op. cit., p. 222.
2 United Nations Monthly Chronicle, II, No. 8, 1965, p. 87.
3 Oppenhcim, p. 408.
4 It is quite clear from the phrase \ .. able and willing to carry out these obliga­
tions’ contained in Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Charter that the applicant State
must be fully independent so that it can be able to meet the obligations contained
in the Charter. For an account about the requirement of full independence as a
basis for membership in the United Nations, see UNCIO, vol. 1 (Verbatim
Minutes of the 5th plcn. sess., 30 April 1945), pp. 345-9. And see Russell, R. B.,
The History of the United Nations (1958), p. 358.
M