Accessibility links
Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qassimi (left) with Sheikh Khalid (second left) and Sheikh Saud (right) &Photo: AFP/GETTY
His fiercely independent emirate, whose population of barely 250,000 includes a minority of pygmy non-Arab mountain dwellers of the Shihuh people, is one of the least developed Gulf states. The occupations of its people, whose traditions and values have not changed for generations, are fishing, dhow building, trading and agriculture.
But Ras al Khaimah, which means "top of the tent" because of its geographical location at the northern tip of the Emirates, holds a strategic position on the Straits of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil supply is shipped. Its relationship with Iran, on the other side of the Straits, is closely scrutinised.
Under Sheikh Saqr's rule, the emirate was the last and most reluctant to join the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which was formed when Britain withdrew from the Gulf in the 1970s. In the best traditions of federal sceptics, he continued to resist the centralising policies of oil-rich Abu Dhabi well into the next decade, allying his dynasty by marriage to the merchant elite of freewheeling and liberal Dubai.
In a religiously conservative region, he licensed the UAE's first and only casino, allegedly for non-Muslims only, and reserved his rights to issue postage stamps and, later, banking licences, all in defiance of federal authority.
Crusty and self-willed, the diminutive and bearded Sheikh became an Arab folk hero in 1971 when, on the eve of the British withdrawal from the Gulf, he ordered his puny police force to resist the Shah of Iran's land grab of the disputed Greater and Lesser Tunbs.
These barren and rocky islands, lying in the Straits of Hormuz midway between Ras al Khaimah and Iran, were important only because of potential oil concessions, and despite the efforts of the emirate's police, were taken over by an Iranian naval expeditionary force with considerable loss of life.
As a wily and commercially-minded ruler, Sheikh Saqr lived in hope of a significant discovery of crude oil or gas, but his dreams of such wealth were never realised. Numerous wildcat wells proved dry, although in recent years the small offshore Saleh oilfield bolstered his income.
His whitewashed single-storey majlis, or ruler's office, symbolised a more modest style than that of his more flamboyant neighbouring emirates, where ruling families built skyscrapers, bought racehorses and engaged in huge infrastructure projects. Ras al Khaimah's small port and airport were in sharp contrast to Dubai's expansive transportation hub.
Sheikh Saqr Bin Mohammed al Qasimi was born on April 9 1918 in Ras al Khaimah town, the major settlement, built around an estuary where a third of his people lived. Britain blocked his father, Sheikh Mohammed, from power, favouring instead the accession of Mohammed's younger brother, Sheikh Sultan, who was recognised as Emir in 1921.
Educated locally, Sheikh Saqr became the sixth al Qasimi Ruler of Ras al Khaimah in March 1948, seizing power from his uncle in a bloodless coup shortly after oil prospecting resumed following the end of the Second World War. The emirate was then part of the Trucial States, with its foreign affairs and defence controlled by Britain.
Traditional in his values and fond of hunting with falcons until well into his sixties, Sheikh Saqr was nevertheless passionate about securing development aid for his people. For the last six years of the British mandate he chaired the Trucial States Council and directed the work of the Development Office. Until the mid-1960s, however, his efforts bore little fruit, and the emirate's first hospital opened only in 1963. His population had a lengthy wait, compared to some of their neighbours, for schools, piped water and other amenities.
But as oil exports from Abu Dhabi grew in the mid-1960s a programme of assistance to the poorer Trucial states was established, and Sheikh Saqr played a significant role in directing the flow of aid to the northern emirates.
He was also intimately involved in the talks leading to the formation of the UAE. Originally to include Qatar and Bahrain, the federation was the brainchild of Harold Wilson's government and came into being on December 2 1971 under Edward Heath's administration with six members: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al Qaiwain, Ajman and Fujairah.
Sheikh Saqr held out until February 1972, because he was not initially prepared to compromise on the issue of having a smaller number of votes in the Union Council than Dubai or Abu Dhabi. He eventually agreed to have the same status as Sharjah, winning more influence than the three smallest emirates.
Even within the federation, he retained a fiercely independent streak and, in 1979, joined his political ally, the Emir of Dubai, in refusing to attend any more meetings of the UAE's Supreme Council of Rulers. The crisis was precipitated by moves that would have strengthened the federal authority at the expense of the smaller emirates' powers, but was averted when these plans were shelved.
In the 1980s, Sheikh Saqr began increasingly to rely on his eldest son, Crown Prince Sheikh Khalid, to handle everyday business, and in 1999 effectively handed over complete control of the emirate to Khalid, who had fostered women's rights and was widely regarded as a moderniser.
Sheikh Khalid's wife, Sheikha Fawqai al Qasimi, a playwright, presided over a women's organisation in the emirate and campaigned on women's issues, invoking the inevitable ire of religious conservatives.
In June 2003, however, in what was described as a peaceful coup, Sheikh Khalid was dismissed as Crown Prince by his father in favour of his younger brother, Sheikh Saud, a graduate of the University of Michigan, and a traditionalist. Before his promotion Sheikh Saud had chaired Ras al Khaimah's royal court.
The takeover was the first time in the UAE that a crown prince had been removed in such a manner. Crown princes are appointed by each emirate's ruler and then approved by the federal government in Abu Dhabi, which agreed the change under federal decree 10 of 2003. Nevertheless, federation army tanks were deployed to guard both Sheikh Saud and his father's palaces.
Recently Sheikh Khalid began a public relations campaign to convince America and regional power-brokers that he should be restored as Crown Prince, in particular raising concerns about the destabilising effect of deepening ties under Sheikh Saud between Ras al Khaimah and Iran. Despite this, Sheikh Saud has been quickly confirmed as the new Emir, in what is seen an attempt to avert a power struggle.
For the ailing Sheikh Saqr, the simmering dispute meant that his long reign, which began with a family coup, came to a close in similar style.
He is survived by several wives and at least six children.
Advertisement
telegraphuk
Please enable JavaScript to view the
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
PAST MONTHEvaluation+of+Chinese+Money+Funds&+Performance+Based+on+Value+at+R..
扫扫二维码，随身浏览文档
手机或平板扫扫即可继续访问
Evaluation+of+Chinese+Money+Funds&+Performance+Based+on+Value+at+Rish+(VaR)Method
举报该文档为侵权文档。
举报该文档含有违规或不良信息。
反馈该文档无法正常浏览。
举报该文档为重复文档。
推荐理由：
将文档分享至：
分享完整地址
文档地址：
粘贴到BBS或博客
flash地址：
支持嵌入FLASH地址的网站使用
html代码：
&embed src='/DocinViewer-4.swf' width='100%' height='600' type=application/x-shockwave-flash ALLOWFULLSCREEN='true' ALLOWSCRIPTACCESS='always'&&/embed&
450px*300px480px*400px650px*490px
支持嵌入HTML代码的网站使用
您的内容已经提交成功
您所提交的内容需要审核后才能发布，请您等待！
3秒自动关闭窗口 上传我的文档
 下载
 收藏
该文档贡献者很忙，什么也没留下。
 下载此文档
正在努力加载中...
考研翻译冲刺必背单词
下载积分：200
内容提示：考研翻译冲刺必背单词
文档格式：PDF|
浏览次数：0|
上传日期： 00:35:25|
文档星级：
该用户还上传了这些文档
考研翻译冲刺必背单词
官方公共微信}