PART I THE ARABIC & ISLAMIC WORLD
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1 ‘AZZAM, Abd el-Rahman (ed.) Memorial of the Government of Saudi Arabia. Arbitration for the settlement of the territorial dispute between Muscat and Abu Dhabi on the one side and Saudi Arabia on the other. Cairo: al-Maaref Press, 1955 “Only recently have the British discovered the value to them of these desert areas” First and only edition, the English version of the documentation of Saudi Arabia’s controversial claim to the Buraimi oasis, the culmination of a longstanding territorial dispute with Abu Dhabi and Oman. Relatively well-represented institutionally, the complete set has never appeared at auction and is essential to the history of a clash that defined the territory and prosperity of the modern UAE. The confrontation began in 1949 with the first official Saudi claim to the Buraimi oasis, on the eastern edge of the Empty Quarter, territory shared between Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Oman. The revival of the oil industry following the end of the Second World War hastened the urgency for the demarcation of frontiers on the Arabian Peninsula. Tangible lines in the sand would ensure claims to the ownership of the oil reserves that lay underneath. Backed by Aramco, Saudi Arabia occupied part of the oasis by force in 1952, sparking a heated international debate. Deadlocked for several years, the dispute was taken to an international tribunal at Geneva, under the auspices of the British, before an armed intervention by the British-officered Trucial Oman Scouts precipitated a Saudi surrender in late 1955. The present work is Saudi Arabia’s official submission to the Geneva tribunal, a fascinating mix of partisanship and serious academic study. Included is a detailed historical and geographic background to the region, legal arguments in favour of the Saudi claim, and a breakdown of tribal divisions in the region, lengthy appendices detailing tribal relationships and diplomatic communiques. The Memorial seeks to nullify claims to tribal loyalties towards the rulers of Abu Dhabi, asserting that “the
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