16 Please allow me to address you today in all frankness, laying facts bare and clear so that you can approach them with right mindset. All of you, by the same token, have been entrusted with the affairs of this country and need to be made aware of all issues. I direct you to fulfill this trust before Allah, in the name of our heritage, our people and the Arab nation. Our country, the UAE, believing in unification as the right path forward, has taken giant steps on the way to development and progress in spite of all difficulties encountered. The whole world testifies to this. We lived divided previously, engaged in continual disputes and hatred was omnipresent in our midst. We had been separated from the Arab nation for many years. However, owing to your sincere efforts, good intentions and strong determination, our will to be united won the day. Obstacles have been overcome and the State has been established. When the United Arab Emirates gained its unity and independence, opposing powers, Britain and Iran for example, believed that success and unity were goals too distant for the likes of us to reach. Such powers worked hard to widen the breaches between the various Emirates and families. They even succeeded in driving a wedge between oneself and one’s own brother. They wanted hate, spite and malice to reign supreme and they waited to reap the fruit of their debased actions. Those powers had also cast doubts on the abilities of the sons and daughters of this country. They also left agents pro-
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