Arab League

Abstract

On August 4, 1957, it was reported that the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Abdel Khalig Hassouna, had submitted a note to the member states of the Bandung conference requesting support of Oman. Asserting that Oman was the object of United Kingdom aggression, the note sought to emphasize the gravity of the situation. It was reported on August 8 that the political committee of the Arab League was meeting in Cairo to consider the situation. According to the press, on August 10 the committee heard a report by Sheikh Mohamed el Harithy, director of the Oman Imamatc office in Cairo, who also submitted a memorandum reportedly containing the texts of the message from the United Kingdom government to the Oman tribal chiefs in 1919 and the Muscat-Oman treaty of 1920. On August 12 eight members of the League's sitting committee, Jordan not being represented, constituted themselves the League Council and issued a resolution stating that 1) armed intervention by United Kingdom forces in Oman constituted a flagrant aggression against Oman's independence and sovereignty and the security of its territory; 2) League members should collectively demand an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to deal with the matter and halt the United Kingdom intervention, which was a threat to the peace and security of the Middle East as well as a breach of international law and the UN Charter; and 3) the Arab states must exert urgent efforts with other UN Members to uphold Oman in its just cause.