Desert nomads to a dynasty

Press, 16 August 1985, Page 22

Desert nomads to a dynasty

From Bahrain to New Zealand is nearly 17,000 kilometres. The Amir’s journey will be made in his private jet aircraft, not the magic carpet of legendary ancestors, but it will not be a pleasure trip — he does not like flying, particularly long distance. This has not prevented him from visiting the United States in 1983 as

the guest of President Reagan or going to Britain on a State visit last year, when he and the Queen found, that they shared a great common interest — a love of horses.

The al-Khalifah family traces its origins back to the Anizah' tribe which once roamed the Iraqi deserts before moving to Najd, part of modern Saudi Arabia. From there they moved to the site of the present town of Kuwait. Then came a move to Zubara in Qatar. Shaikh Ahmad Khalifah fought off an attack by the ruler of Bahrain in 1782 and assumed power in Bahrain, establishing a dynasty that has continued to this day, with the Amir the tenth in the line of succession. Before the al-Khalifahs took over the country, often thought of as one island but actually an archipelago of 33 islands, Bahrain had been ruled by various tribal and national conquerers, including a century under the Portuguese, unwelcome

and uneasy occupants, and Persians.

Late nineteenth century Turkish claims to sovereignty over Bahrain were rejected by Britain, and until 1971, when Bahrain emerged as a fully independent State, Britain and Bahrain had close ties. 1 The Amir succeeded his father, Shaikh Sulman, as ruler in 1961. He was 28 and had had considerable experience in administration and had travelled quite widely, generally unofficially, overseas. In his declaration of independence on August 15, 1971, the Amir, as he than became, announced the end of all political and military treaties which regulated the special relations with Britain. A new treaty of friendship was subsequently signed. To administer the new State, the Amir created a State Council which became the Cabinet after independence. Seventeen ministers, with the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifah Bin-Sulman al-Khalifah, a

younger brother of the Amir, as their head, now advise the ruler.

One of the ministers, holding the defence portfolio, is the Amir’s 35-year-old son, the Crown Prince, Shaikh Hamed. Like his father, he is well travelled and his education included attendance at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, the Mons Officer Cadet School, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Amir was one of the Arab leaders who in 1968 and 1969 held meetings designed to bring about a union of the Arab emirates in the Gulf. Differences could not be reconciled, and it was not until 1981-82 that a new organisation, the Gulf Co-operation Council, was formed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. The Amir is a familiar figure to all Bahrainis. His portrait, usually flanked by photographs of the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister, is in every shop, office, hotel, and probably in most homes.

What he does is compulsory news in the daily newspapers and on television. At the top of the news in brief column of the Eng-lish-language “Gulf Daily News” one can read that the Amir sent a cable of good wishes to Queen Elizabeth; the next day there might be a paragraph that the Amir sent good wishes to another Gulf State ruler “as he passed over Bahrain airspace.” It would have to be a quick message from an island barely 50km long.

Audiences with the Amir at his Rifaa Palace are the subject of photographs on television and in the newspapers. New Zealand journalists talking to the Amir about his planned visit to this country were described as a press delegation, with no mention of the Amir’s New Zealand visit. Security demands that such detail is kept secret as long as possible. A visit to the Royal court, open to all petitioners, and to invited visitors is an occasion where West-

erners can recall scenes from Tales of the Arabian Nights. At the head of a heavily-car-peted, long reception hall the Amir, with two mullahs in attendance, sits in state, while along each side sit petitioners who have presented their complaints or requests, and Government officials who have made reports to their ruler.

Visitors walk the length of the hall, are and take their place on the side, to be served by what one expects to be coffee, but turns out to be cardamon tea, served by men who, with a flight of imagination, can be Nubian slaves. And why not? Bahrain’s population includes a number of black Africans who are descended from freed slaves or who were slaves themselves and escaped from other parts of the Gulf to be manumitted in Bahrain. The palace servants’ scimitars look ceremonial — but not so the slung machine-guns of the Royal Guards outside.

When we met the Amir in private, he said he was looking forward to his New Zealand visit

— in spite of the flying hours involved. He had learned a lot about the country, recalled meeting Sir Robert Muldoon when he was

in Bahrain to open the joint venture cool store in 1977, and reminded us that his Prime Minister and the Minister of Development had also been to New Zealand. The Amir also has some New Zealand friends — young ones. He has a private beach which he opens to expatriate Europeans and their families and personally hands out soft drinks and sweets to the children. When he learns that they are from New Zealand he often asks if father is a Gulf Air pilot, because quite a few New Zealanders have flown for the airline. But they may be the children of diplomats, trade representatives, or professional men, because about 200 New Zealanders live in Bahrain.

This friendly man, surprisingly small of stature but big of heart and smile, is sure to leave friends in New Zealand after his State visit.