part of the territory or forego the restoration of the remaining part of the island for good. When the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired on 1 December 1971, the Trucial States became independent sheikhdoms. Four more Trucial states (Ajman, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah) joined Abu Dhabi and Dubai in signing the UAE's founding treaty, with a draft constitution in place drafted in record time to meet the 2 December 1971 deadline. On that date, at the Dubai Guesthouse (now known as Union House), the emirates agreed to enter into a union to be called the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah joined in February 1972. On 24 January 1972, the former deposed ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, with an armed group supported by Ras Al Khaimah forced his way into the palace of Sharjah's ruler Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, occupied it, and demanded to be recognized as the sole ruler of Sharjah. Saqr had been deposed in 1965 by the British because he supported and received assistance from the Arab League, which Britain objected to at the time. He saw the opportunity to make a comeback as the British had terminated their commitments to the Trucial States. The incident led to UAE defence force mobilising for the first time. In a joint action this force and the Abu Dhabi defence force, together with popular resistance in Sharjah, managed to bring the situation under control and to cut the lines of supplies from Ras Al-Khaimah. After the palace was besieged, Ṣaqr surrendered with his group to the federal authorities. However, Sharjah's ruler Sheikh Khalid had already been killed in the palace. The incident was a direct attack on the authority of a member emirate of the UAE and the murder of a ruler and Supreme Council member and it constituted a test for the new union at a time when the wound caused by the occupation of the three islands had not yet healed. On 25 January 1972, the ruling family in Sharjah met to choose a new ruler for the emirate, and Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, the brother of the late ruler, was unanimously chosen to succeed him. The Supreme Council met in emergency session to consider the situation, and besides issuing an obituary of Sheikh Khālid, officially proclaimed the accession. The move to form a union took place at a time of