‘Abu Mousa, Greater and Lesser Tunbs rightfully belong to UAE’

The islands should really have belonged to Ras Al Khaimah as the emirate had the strongest claim over the islands since it had controlled them with the help of the British between 1870 and 1900, Julian Walker, a British historian known for his diplomatic missions in the Gulf region, told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview yesterday on the sidelines of the conference on ‘Bedouin Society in the Emirates' here. Stating that history documents the three islands as belonging to the country, Walker said: "The protection of the islands was vested with Ras Al Khaimah until the withdrawal of the British forces in 1971. The Shah of Iran has been claiming the Islands. He abandoned his claim to Bahrain and had reached an agreement with the Ruler of Sharjah over Abu Mousa.

"Shaikh Saqr of Ras Al Khaimah was not prepared to sell the islands to the Shah of Iran, but he knew that the Shah would seize them when the British withdrew," Walker, who is currently the manager of the Kurdish Cultural Centre, London, said.

He said the day before the British officially ended their protection, the Shah sent his navy and seized the islands. A small police post of the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah on the Tunbs islands resisted the Shah's forces for four hours. "That was how the islands were seized by the Iranians," he said, adding that the Shah could achieve victory only because of the large naval force and the villagers fleeing to Ras Al Khaimah since they didn't want to be under Iranian rule.

On the geographical, political and historic importance of the islands, the British historian said historically, the islands were known for grazing of cattle during summer, besides fishing. Another important aspect of the islands was that they were crucial for oil concessions.

He said the islands had no political importance since they were separated, but the Shah may have originally believed that he could put guns on the islands to control the Straits of Hormuz, entrance to the Gulf.

"The islands do not have any traces of Bedioun existence and the population there comprised smaller tribes, mainly fishermen," he said.

To a question on the visionary leadership of late president Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan towards bringing in modern practices, the historian said: "With love for greenery and love for growth of trees, a great deal of generosity and a great deal of patience, Shaikh Zayed was able to build a modern country on the basis of the past.

"He had a lot of lovely planning and very good ideas. But they were all based on the past since he firmly believed in the principle that one should not lose one's roots".