MIDDLE EAST SHEIK JACKPOT FIVE TIMES A DAY FOR THE PAST 30 
YEARS, THIN, THREADBARE SHEIK SHAKHBUT BIN SULTAN FACED WEST, BOWED LOW, 
AND PRAYED FOR AN OIL STRIKE . HIS REALM OF ABU 
DHABI WAS DESPERATELY IN NEED OF SOME GOOD LUCK . UP 
AND DOWN THE PERSIAN GULF, THE STATES OF QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, 
KUWAIT AND IRAN WERE ROLLING IN OIL WEALTH . BUT YEAR 
AFTER YEAR, ABU DHABI'S 25,000 SQ . MI . OF SAND, 
DATE PALMS AND BARREN OFFSHORE ISLANDS JUST GOT HOTTER, MORE HUMID 
AND WINDSWEPT THAN BEFORE . PERPETUAL TRUCE . BUT THEN ALLAH 
RESPONDED TO THE SHEIK'S PRAYERS BELATEDLY, BUT IN OVERWHELMING MEASURE . 
TWO VAST OILFIELDS HAVE BEEN TAPPED BY BRITISH DRILLING TEAMS, ONE 
AT MURBAN IN THE SANDY INTERIOR, THE OTHER IN THE SHALLOW 
COASTAL WATERS OF THE GULF . CONSERVATIVE OILMEN ESTIMATE ABU DHABI'S 
PROVEN OIL RESERVES AT ABOUT 3.8 BILLION BBL., WHICH AT PRESENT 
ROYALTY RATES WOULD RETURN SOME $1.4 BILLION OVER THE YEARS . 
RIDICULOUS, SAY OTHER EXPERTS : ON THE BASIS OF LATEST DISCOVERIES, 
RESERVES MAY BE AS GREAT AS 38 BILLION BBL . THIS 
HAS ALL BEEN RATHER UNSETTLING TO ABU DHABI, WHOSE 15,000 BEDOUINS 
HAVE GOT ALONG FOR CENTURIES ON PIRACY, PEARL FISHING AND INTERTRIBAL 
RAIDS . IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THE SWIFT PIRATE DHOWS WERE 
SWEPT FROM THE GULF BY BRITAIN, WHICH ESTABLISHED " A PERPETUAL 
MARITIME TRUCE " HENCE THE NAME TRUCIAL STATES, GIVEN TO ABU 
DHABI AND SIX OTHER SHEIKDOMS . PEARL FISHING BECAME UNPROFITABLE WHEN 
THE JAPANESE CLEVERLY INTRODUCED CULTURED PEARLS TO THE WORLD . THERE 
WAS NOTHING LEFT TO ABU DHABI BUT INTRIGUE : OF THE 
TWELVE PREDECESSORS OF THE PRESENT SHEIK, ONLY THREE DIED PEACEFULLY IN 
THEIR PALACE BEDS . THE REST WERE EITHER MURDERED OR VIOLENTLY 
DEPOSED, USUALLY BY CLOSE RELATIVES . SHEIK SHAKHBUT TOOK OVER IN 
1928 WHEN HIS UNCLE WAS ASSASSINATED, AFTER HAVING EARLIER KILLED SHAKHBUT'S 
FATHER WHO, IN TURN, HAD COME TO POWER BY KILLING HIS 
OLDER BROTHER . SHAKHBUT IS SAID TO HAVE RULED SO LONG 
AND SAFELY ONLY BECAUSE HIS OWN TWO BROTHERS SWORE A SOLEMN 
OATH ON THE KORAN NOT TO MURDER HIM . BUGS IN 
THE TREASURY . IN HIS LONG YEARS OF OIL-LESS RULE, SHEIK 
SHAKHBUT RAN HIS COUNTRY ON CUSTOMS DUTIES OF $140,000 A YEAR, 
FOUGHT SOME DESULTORY WARS WITH HIS NEIGHBORS IN SHARJA AND DUBAI, 
AND LIVED QUIETLY IN HIS MUD-WALLED PALACE ON AN OFFSHORE ISLAND 
. HE INSTALLED AN AIR CONDITIONER IN HIS BEDROOM BUT SELDOM 
USED IT BECAUSE HE DISLIKED THE NOISE . HE ALSO PUT 
IN A FLUSH TOILET AND A PUMP TO SUPPLY IT WITH 
WATER ; SEWAGE DISPOSAL WAS SIMPLY A PIPE JUTTING OUT FROM 
THE PALACE WALL . NEARLY EVERY DAY, THE SHEIK SAT CROSSLEGGED 
IN HIS THRONE ROOM HOLDING A MAJLIS, AT WHICH HE LISTENED 
TO COMPLAINTS OF CITIZENS, WHILE BEDOUIN CHIEFS GROUPED AROUND HIM, SOME 
HOLDING ON THEIR WRISTS THE HOODED FALCONS THAT WERE ABU DHABI'S 
ONLY STATUS SYMBOL . WHEN THE OIL REVENUES BEGAN TO FLOW 
IN LAST YEAR, EVERYONE EXPECTED GREAT THINGS OF SHEIK SHAKHBUT . 
BUT IT SOON DEVELOPED THAT WHAT SHAKHBUT LIKED TO DO WITH 
MONEY WAS COUNT IT, NOT SPEND IT . HE REFUSED TO 
ACCEPT CHECKS FROM THE OIL COMPANIES, AT FIRST KEPT HIS CASH 
UNDER HIS BED . WHEN THE BEDSPRINGS BEGAN TO BULGE, HE 
HAD THE CASH CARTED TO A PALACE DUNGEON . IT WAS 
ONLY AFTER RATS BEGAN NIBBLING AT THE TREASURE CHESTS AND INSECTS 
STARTED EATING THE FOLDING MONEY THAT SHAKHBUT RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO ACCEPT 
THE PRINCIPLE OF BANKING . HE NOW FLOURISHES AN OUTSIZE CHECKBOOK, 
EMBLAZONED WITH THE RED AND WHITE FLAG OF ABU DHABI, BUT 
HE STILL HATES TO SIGN CHECKS . PUTTING OFF PAYDAY . 
BRITAIN, WHICH HAS A MOTHER-HEN RELATIONSHIP TO THE ALLEGEDLY INDEPENDENT TRUCIAL 
STATES, LAST YEAR PROMOTED AN ABU DHABI DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM CALLING FOR 
$70 MILLION WORTH OF ROADS, SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC WORKS . SHEIK 
SHAKHBUT, 58, ACCEPTED THE PLAN ONLY IN THEORY.BUSINESSMEN DEALING WITH THE 
SHEIK HAVE A TENDENCY TO OVERNIGHT GREY HAIR . " HE 
SIMPLY ASKS FOR 50 PER CENT IN EVERY BUSINESS DEAL ! 
/ SPUTTERED A LEVANTINE ENTREPRENEUR . SHAKHBUT MAY AMIABLY CONCEDE THAT 
HE HAS SIGNED A CONTRACT FOR WORK TO BE DONE, THEN 
ADDS CAGILY, " BUT I DIDN'T SAY I WOULD PAY FOR 
IT . " HIS PENNY PINCHING EVEN EXTENDS TO ABU DHABI'S 
470-MAN ARMY : EACH SOLDIER IS PAID PERSONALLY BY SHAKHBUT, WHO 
STALLS OFF PAYDAY AS LONG AS POSSIBLE . THE SHEIK'S MIND 
RESEMBLES A REVOLVING DOOR . SINCE ABU DHABI HAS VIRTUALLY NO 
WATER (A GLASS OF WATER COSTS ABOUT THE SAME AS A 
GLASS OF GIN), THERE IS A DESPERATE NEED FOR MODERN EQUIPMENT 
TO DISTILL SEA WATER . BUT THE SHEIK HAS THREE TIMES 
SHIFTED THE LOCATION OF A PROPOSED NEW DISTILLATION PLANT AND MAY 
WELL SHIFT IT THREE OR 30 TIMES MORE . GROANED A 
FRUSTRATED BRITISH ENGINEER : " WE FREQUENTLY DO SIX WEEKS' WORK 
FOR NOTHING . " THE BRITISH PRODUCED PLANS TO MAKE ABU 
DHABI CITY INTO A GLITTERING MODERN CAPITAL THAT WOULD BE THE 
PRIDE OF THE PERSIAN GULF, BUT AS FAST AS ENGINEERS LAY 
OUT A NEW BOULEVARD, SHAKHBUT GRANTS PERMISSION TO A LOCAL MERCHANT 
TO BUILD A STORE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT . FISHY 
FRESHNESS . IN AN EFFORT TO BROADEN THE SHEIK'S OUTLOOK, OILMEN 
AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAVE GIVEN HIM REDCARPET TRIPS TO PARIS, 
LONDON AND NEW YORK . WHAT INTERESTED HIM MOST WAS THE 
LARGE NUMBER OF AUTOMOBILES IN THE THREE CITIES . " KEEP 
THE CARS GOING, " HE SAID EARNESTLY, THINKING HAPPILY OF THE 
FUTURE CONSUMPTION OF ABU DHABI GASOLINE . NEW YORK CITY STRUCK 
HIM AS A " TOWN WHERE PEOPLE ARE NOT CIVILIZED . 
THEY LIVE LIKE ANTS OR SWALLOWS IN CLIFFS . THE SUN 
NEVER GETS DOWN INTO THE STREETS . " HE WAS APPALLED 
BY TV WESTERNS : " ALL THAT SHOOTING UPSETS THE BASIS 
OF GOOD GOVERNMENT ! " WHAT DELIGHTS SHAKHBUT IS THE TRADITIONAL 
LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE . " THE THING THAT PLEASES ME 
MOST, " HE SAYS, " IS HUNTING FOR BUSTARDS WITH OUR 
FALCONS . IT'S TREMENDOUS TO SEE THE FALCON FIGHTING THE BUSTARD 
AND KILLING IT . EACH FALCON HAS ITS OWN SPECIAL OWNER 
AND REFUSES TO HUNT FOR ANYONE ELSE . " THE SHEIK 
IS ALSO A CONNOISSEUR OF CAMEL'S MILK HIS ONLY DRINK AND 
CAN TELL BY THE MILK'S TASTE WHAT THE CAMEL HAS BEEN 
EATING AND WHERE IT WAS IN THE DESERT FOR THE BEST 
MILK, HE EXPLAINS, WE FEED CAMELS ON SEA MANGROVE AND DRIED 
FISH . THIS GIVES THE MILK A SLIGHTLY FISHY FRESHNESS WE 
APPRECIATE . " SHAKHBUT ONCE OWNED A CADILLAC, BUT WHEN IT 
FINALLY BROKE DOWN HE JUST ABANDONED IT . NOW HE MAKES 
HIS STATE VISITS IN A BONE-JARRING LAND-ROVER, BUT WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM . 
" I DID ALL MY TRAVELING BY CAMEL IN THE OLD 
DAYS, " HE SIGHS, " BUT NOW I HAVE TO GO 
BY CAR BECAUSE IF THE RULER WENT BY CAMEL, PEOPLE WOULD 
THINK IT PECULIAR . / 