Trucial Oman Scouts: rulers should be asked to bear greater burden of cost

This file relates to the Trucial Oman Scouts (TOS). It contains correspondence, memoranda and reports concerning:

• Pay increases for the Arab element of the TOS; and the request that the Rulers meet the cost, with most agreeing
• Joint Working Party, comprised of the Foreign Office, Treasury, and Ministry of Defence examining the future of the TOS in the short-term and long-term, after Britain's withdrawal from the Gulf in 1971, considering its role, purpose, and financial arrangements; and the Working Party's reorganisation proposal designed to make the TOS more flexible and efficient
• Revised expenditure estimates for 1968-71
• Agreement of Colonel Robert Lifford Valentine ffrench Blake to write a history of the TOS, and the question of whether it will be an 'official history' and whether he can access documents
• Expectation that the Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum will establish a Dubai Defence Force; and Britain's attempts to dissuade him
• Scheme to establish, for operational and political reasons, a squadron at Hamham, Ras Al Khaimah
• Question of accepting the return of the Ruler of Sharjah's brother Captain Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi to the TOS
• Conversation between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf R S Crawford and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan on the importance of preserving the TOS
• Future logistical support for the TOS

This file also contains a certified true copy of the proceedings of a Board of Inquiry into the death of TOS soldier Obaid Saleem Juma (Number 2590) and the injury to soldier Hilal Subeh (Number 2529), with Arif Mussabeh Obaid (Number 2094) charged with negligently discharging a civilian rifle. Additionally, it contains correspondence regarding compensation payments to the widow.