UN activities in Persian Gulf

This file relates to UN activities in the Gulf, and in particular those of the UN Technical Assistance Board (UNTAB), which is later subsumed into the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and possible assistance to the Gulf States including: Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial States. It contains briefs, records of meetings and correspondence concerning:

• Discussions between P P Howell of HMG’s Development Division in Beirut, the Resident Representative of UNTAB in Jordan James Keen, David Owen (UNDP), the Foreign Office and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf, to assess the scope and possibility of UN assistance to the Gulf States. It includes the visit of Keen to the Gulf and his discussions with the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf W H T Luce (1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 23)
• The discussion of the term ‘protected state’ as applied to Swaziland and Brunei in the UN, in contrast to its usage in the Gulf States (2)
• The UN’s consideration of the issue of Oman, including the consideration by the Committee of 24. It includes a speech by the Secretary General of the Arab League Dr Sayyed Nofal condemning the UK, and the annoyance of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur at the inclusion of his letters to the Foreign Secretary in public UN documents (5, 11, 13)
• The UNESCO conference of Arab Ministers of Education and Economic Planning in Tripoli, and the United Arab Republic’s opposition to the attendance of Bahrain and the Federation of South Arabia (7)
• The visits of UNDP representative in Saudi Arabia Hasan Mohammad Hasan to Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial States to discuss assistance. It includes discussions on the lines of communication between the UN, HMG and the Gulf States to be used; the development work and cooperation of the Kuwait State Office with the Trucial States Council; and the field of vocational training (12, 20, 24-28)
• The question of Iran’s sensitivities around Bahrain and UNTAB assistance (17)
• The Saudi press and Government interest and attitude towards UN assistance in the Gulf (22, 29)
• The possibility of the UN conducting a population census in the Trucial States (28).