UK policy towards Arabia and the Persian Gulf
FCO 8/3443 1980 Jan 01 - 1980 Dec 31Description
This file relates to UK policy towards Arabia and the Gulf. It contains correspondence concerning:
- The Kuwait press reaction to a speech given by Minister of State Douglas Hurd to the Committee for Middle East Trade (COMET), and its assessment of the general mood in the Gulf
- A draft Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paper which assesses the threat to the stability of traditional Arab oil-producing regimes from internal dissension and from external subversion or local war, and which discusses how these threats might be countered
- HMG policy and its advice to Muslim States in connection with the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan
- The UK's views on commercial corruption
- HMG's views on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Palestinian right to self-determination
- D A Roberts's suggestion that HMG should sharpen its propaganda output to counter the Soviet Union's threat to the Gulf
- A ministerial strategy meeting on basic Western aims, the obstacles to these, and the action HMG can take
- HMG's concern about the threat to the UAE from minor branches of the Ruling Family attempting to seize power
- A query by Eldon Griffiths MP as to HMG's reaction to Oman's likely request for anti-submarine equipment
- Discussions between H B Walker and Jalil Al Urrayedh on the proposed Arabian Gulf University
- The question of renewing HMG's Treaties of Friendship with the Gulf States, which expire in 1981
- Consideration of future cooperation between HMG and the countries of Arabia and the Gulf
- The question of British military aid and protection