Ministerial visits from the UK to the Middle East: general

This file concerns UK ministerial visits to the Gulf. It contains correspondence, itineraries and briefing papers on:

• A visit by the Sports Minister Neil Macfarlane to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the postponement of his visit to Bahrain
• The postponement of a visit by the Energy Secretary Nigel Lawson to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, due to the absence in their countries of certain ministers, especially Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani and Mana Saeed Al Otaiba, who are attending a rescheduled meeting in Vienna of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
• A proposed visit by the Defence Secretary Francis Pym to Saudi Arabia
• A visit by the Under-Secretary for Defence Geoffrey Pattie to the UAE
• A visit by Local Government Minister Tom King to the UAE in 1981
• A schedule of inward and outward ministerial visits.

The file also contains correspondence on:

• A possible visit by the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1983
• Britain’s war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands
• US President Ronald Reagan’s Middle East initiative
• Jordan-Palestine relations
• The Fez summit of the Arab League.