Withdrawal of troops: disposal of military installations

This file relates to the British military withdrawal from the Gulf. It contains correspondence from April to August 1968 on:

• Disposal of HMG's bases and military assets at Bahrain, Sharjah and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and whether local governments might be expected to pay for them
• Statement to the House of Commons by Denis Healey concerning the handover without charge of facilities in Malaysia and Singapore, and a question raised by Reginald Maudling about whether the principle would extend to the Gulf
• Possibility of the Sultanate paying for the bases at Salalah and Masirah
• Question of any need for transit facilities in Bahrain
• Question of whether the US Navy might take over facilities in Bahrain
• Iranian proposals for the facilities in Bahrain to be dismantled, or jointly used and fears the Soviet Union might acquire them
• Kuwait's expression of interest in acquiring assets