Al Ittihad Hail the United Arab Emirates
"In one of those historic days, the establishment of the 18th Arab State has been declared; an independent soveriegn state, part of the greater pan-Arab nation, set to protect the rights and liberties of its people."
Al AKhbar (Cairo) An independent sovereign state and part of the Arab world.
"A state that strives for advocating Arab and Muslim causes. A state that cooperates with all countries and peoples of the world in accordance with the international conventions."
The New York Times An Arab state is born amid Persian Gulf unrest
"A new Arab state has been born, bringing to 18 the number of independent Arab countries.
"The Union of Arab Emirates, formed of tiny Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms, two of them rich in oil, proclaimed its independence today at a meeting of the rulers in Dubai."
Financial Times Union of Arab Emirates comes into being
"A new Arab Federation was formed today in Abu Dhabi when six of the seven trucial states established the Union of Arab Emirates.
"At the same time a treaty of friendship was signed with Britain, who yesterday terminated all existing treaties with the Trucial States."
The Guardian New Gulf union seeks membership of UN
"Six of the seven Persian Gulf Trucial States today formed themselves into a single State to be known as the Union of Arab Emirates. The new Government immediately signed a treaty of friendship with Britain and applied for membership of the United Nations."
The Daily Telegraph Gulf regime Basis for security
"The establishment of the United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf on December 2 was formally announced yesterday by Sir Alec Douglas-Home."
Also on this day
A snapshot of other news, plus cultural and sporting events that occurred on or about December 2, 1971.
• Bengali pilots and technicians who had defected from the Pakistani air force launched attacks on depots and communication lines, flying light aircraft donated by India. Their original plan was to fly a sortie on November 28, but for some reason pushed it back to December 2. Pakistan struck India early on the following day and India responded to that strike immediately with its own military attack and a declaration of war. The subsequent fighting led to the creation of the new country of Bangladesh.
• The Soviet Union's Mars 3 lander performed the first successful landing of a terrestrial craft on the Red Planet. It sent video data to the orbiter for a whopping 14.5 seconds, then failed. It was never known why the communications relay stopped, but there was suggestion that a powerful martian dust storm damaged the system. The lander did, however, discover that the amount of uranium and thorium in the soil of Mars is similar to the amount found on Earth.
• A memorandum used as evidence during the Watergate hearings revealed that the US attorney general, John Mitchell, met the White House counsel, John Dean, on December 2 to inform him that G Gordon Liddy had been named general counsel to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, effective December 6. Liddy was to handle political intelligence and legal matters and work with Dean on the "political enemies" project. Six months later, the offices of Richard Nixon's presidential opponent, George McGovern, were burglarised in the Watergate Hotel. The scandal and its coverup eventually led to Nixon's resignation as US president.
• At No 4 of the UK singles chart was Isaac Hayes's Theme from Shaft, released in December; and among the top albums that month were Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Pictures from an Exhibition; Fragile, by Yes; and Shirley Bassey's What Now My Love.
• Motion pictures released that month included Straw Dogs, A Clockwork Orange, Harold and Maude and Dirty Harry.
• In football, Mexico beat Costa Rica, 1-0, and eventually went on to win the 1971 title of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf).
