Vacuum in the Gulf

MIDDLE EAST

The placid, Lilliputian Persian Gulf sheikdom of Sharjah was unexpectedly disturbed last week by the thud of hand grenades and the rattle of rifle fire. Former Sheik Saqr bin Sultan, deposed in 1965 in a peaceful coup, had returned from exile in Cairo. With two truckloads of Bedouins, he stormed Sharjah's blue-and-white palace in an attempt to overthrow his ruling cousin Sheik Khalid bin Mohammed. In a brief battle with tribesmen loyal to Khalid, Saqr was captured. But Sheik Khalid was trapped and murdered before he could be rescued.

A few years ago that kind of tribal fighting--presuming that the watchful British Political Resident in the gulf would have allowed it to take place--would scarcely have been noticed. Today, though, the lands bordering the Persian Gulf have a strategic importance to both East and West. Collectively, the Trucial States* and their neighbors on the gulf have a petroleum reserve of at least 345 billion bbls.--56% of the world's proven oil supply. Moreover, the power vacuum created in December when Britain pulled out the last of its political officers and military forces from the Trucial States has yet to be filled.

When the British withdrew from the gulf in December, the sheiks created the Union of Arab Emirates (see map), which is somewhat less of a nation than a collection of traditionally suspicious and unequal tribes. Linked only by language (Arabic) and faith (Islam), the six founding members differ vastly in size and population as well as in wealth. Abu Dhabi (pop. 100,000) and Dubai (70,000), for instance, sit on top of enormous pooh of oil; nearby Fujeira (10,000) and Umm al Qaiwain (4,500) have none. Dubai, moreover, has the states' principal port; from there, smugglers have long done a lucrative business in carrying gold, perfumes and Swiss watches to India. Sharjah (pop. 38,000) is so poor that its chief source of income (about $257,000 a year) used to be selling fresh water to the British garrison. Ajman (pop. 4,000), with no oil and only a primitive fishing industry, survives primarily by selling stamps to philatelists of the world, who are charmed by Arab postage bearing the images of the Kennedy brothers, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth.

Britain's decision to withdraw from the gulf was an unsettling blow to the Trucial States. One robed sheik explained why to TIME Correspondent Gavin Scott as they sat sipping Evian water in an Abu Dhabi hotel lobby. "We have a saying here that my next-door neighbor is my enemy, but the man from afar is my friend." So anxious was oil-rich Abu Dhabi to maintain a referee and peacekeeper in the area that it. quietly proposed to help cover British costs with a $60 million subsidy. When London demurred, the neighboring sheiks--who are all absolute monarchs--reluctantly began for the first time to negotiate with one another on a political union. After 18 months of discussion, the Union of Arab Emirates was formed, with Abu Dhabi's Sheik Zayed bin Sultan as the first president.

Political Clout. The union was, and is, far from perfect. Qatar (pop. 85,000) refused to join because its proposed political clout would not be consonant with its huge economic wealth (roughly $240 million annually in oil royalties, or $2,824 per capita). The island sheikdom of Bahrain also declined; as the most populous (250,000) of the Trucial States it wanted more power than the other sheiks were willing to give. Both countries declared independence and have joined the United Nations, as has the Union. Qatar is now the U.N.'s smallest member.

The departure of the British troops coincided with the Union's first international crisis. Iran has historic claims to three tiny islands in the gulf that were controlled by the Trucial States. Shah Reza Pahlevi took advantage of the political changes in the area to negotiate an agreement with Sharjah in which Iran received oil-exploration rights on Abu Mesa. The other two islands, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, were seized by helicopter-borne Iranian troops after similar negotiations with Ras al Khaima collapsed. The Union was hard put to resist such encroachment; its principal military strength consists of Abu Dhabi's 6,000-man defense force and 1,800 British-trained Trucial Oman Scouts (lately renamed the Union Defense Force).

The only other sizable military force in the gulf--one converted seaplane tender and two destroyers of the U.S. Middle East Force--refused to intervene in the seizure. Partly mollified by the Shah's offer of $3,600,000 a year to Sharjah for oil rights on Abu Mesa, the Union of Arab Emirates has tacitly accepted Iran's conquest. Ras al Khaima, however, has so far angrily refused to join the federation, although it is expected to do so.

Lavish Airports. The fledgling Union now would like nothing better than to be left alone to solve its internal problems--housing is scarce and education limited--and to enjoy the benefits of its oil money. Fujeira and Umm al Qaiwain are little more than fishing villages surrounded by desert, but Dubai and Abu Dhabi (each of whose capitals has the same name as the sheikdom) have lavish international airports.

An estimated 90% of the population of the states is illiterate, and women remain in purdah behind grilled windows. But Gulf Aviation's frequent BAC-111 jet flights now link the wealthier states more closely than camels ever did. At the bars in the vast airport terminals, Arab entrepreneurs in long robes sip Scotch to the piped-in music of Ray Charles; porters pause during prayer hours to kneel on the floor facing Mecca.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Suweidi admits that the Union of Arab Emirates is "starting at zero at present," but he says that it intends to move toward democratization and direct elections. Some Arabs insist that they are already there. "Who says we don't have democracy?" one Bahraini insisted. "Here you can go and have coffee with the ruler any day you like at his majlis [daily social hour]. It is better than your democracy."

* The name derives from a treaty signed in 1820, in which the sheikdoms, in order to escape British reprisals, agreed to stop the "plunder and piracy" of ships owned by the British East India Company on the high seas.

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