Visit by Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister, to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Qatar, April 1981

This file relates to a visit by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to India, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States of Oman, the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and Qatar. It contains correspondence and memoranda concerning:

• The suggested programme; and itinerary planning and arrangements
• A suggestion that the Prime Minister visit Dubai College
• Arrangements for the Prime Minister's husband and daughter, Denis Thatcher and Carol Thatcher
• Arrangements for transport, accommodation, protocol, communications, and security; and queries about suitable dress lengths
• Press and publicity arrangements, including a request for an interview from Emirates News Agency, and arrangements for the UK press party; and a briefing for the Prime Minister's press interview
• Suggested commercial projects for the Prime Minister to lobby for, with most deemed too minor for the Prime Minister to advocate
• Personality notes on Hisham Nazir and Mohammad Ibrahim Mas'ud
• The Ministry of Defence's concern that a defence communications project has been superseded by an internal security project
• A draft trade brief
• A draft brief on health care cooperation and exports
• The question of whether the Prime Minister should acknowledge the presence in Abu Dhabi of the Avon School's Orchestra
• A checklist of the main points the visit should promote
• A draft speech for the Prime Minister's lunch with British businessmen in Riyadh
• A request from Airwork Services Limited that the Prime Minister help it renew its contract with the Sultan's Armed Forces
• Notes on British subjects detained and convicted in Saudi Arabia (Neil Clynton-Reed, Desmond O'Callen-Smith, Guy Trevor Wilson, and Edwin Bate); the Prime Minister's intention to raise the question of Clynton-Reed's release in response to a request by his father; and a recommendation by W K Slatcher of the Consular Department that Clynton-Reed should not be singled out for special treatment and therefore set a precedent
• A checklist of points the Prime Minister expects to raise in her talks with leading personalities during the visit, including UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan
• The anticipated death of the Ruler of Ajman Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, and the expectation that consequently the Queen's birthday party will have to be cancelled
• A draft speech for the opening of an English-speaking school in Salalah
• The intention to keep the Prime Minister apart from representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization during official engagements
• A request that the Prime Minister support Bristol Channel Ship Repairers by stressing the need for a British company to secure the management contract for the Dubai dry dock to Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum