Word: sharjah
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...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...
...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...
...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...
...horizon. Apart from Hong Kong, which remains a Gurkha-garrisoned crown colony, Britain is rapidly withdrawing its historic military presence from the Far East. The huge naval yard and three airbases in Singapore are being turned over to the local government; the Persian Gulf bases of Bahrain and Sharjah will be closed down well before the end of next year; and Aden has become a port of call for the Russian navy and a barracks for wayward Arab guerrillas...
...Gulf. Result: the Trucial sheiks are scurrying around looking for ways to protect themselves. Last week's pact is just a start toward banding together in the face of danger. This week the sheiks gather in Dubai to discuss enlarging the federation to include the five smaller states-Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm al Qaiwain and Ras al Khaimah...