Trucial Oman Scouts: transfer of assets to the Union of Arab Emirates

This file relates to the Trucial Oman Scouts (TOS) and the transfer of assets to the Union of Arab Emirates. It contains correspondence and records of meeting concerning:

• Problem of the TOS and the handover to a Union of Arab Emirates after the withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf, outlined by Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Goronwy Roberts. It includes discussion of the issue of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s hesitance about incorporating the force due to the potential criticism from other Arab States and his wish for no other force to rival the Abu Dhabi Defence Force
• Discussion of Major-General Sir John Willoughby’s report recommending the TOS becomes part of a Union Defence Force and Roberts’s comment that the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf shouldn’t have the discretion to offer this to the Rulers yet, as operational control of the TOS will be difficult to maintain up to 1971
• Need to establish legally who HMG will be transferring the title of the TOS to
• Discussion of defence at a meeting of the Rulers in Doha
• Need to make plans to hand over the TOS after six of the Trucial Rulers have signed a temporary constitution in 1971, proposed by Minister of State Joseph Godber
• Need for a financial arrangement for the equipment currently in use by the TOS, and the importance of not offering a ‘piecemeal’ deal
• Sheikh Zayed and the Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum's reply to HMG’s offer, the final cost and the date of the handover of the TOS