Tuesday's Documentary Abu Dhabi observed by PATRICK O'DONOVAN
They call Abu Dhabi the richest country in the world. Yet a decade or so ago this place consisted of a cluster of mud houses and an old fort on the edge of the Arabian Gulf between the desert and the deep blue sea. In a technological explosion fuelled by oil Abu Dhabi is rocketing into the twentieth century. But it has not yet quite lost its innocence and its wonder at its own good fortune, and the foreigners from East and West who flock to this newest of the newly-rich oil kingdoms seem to enjoy working here. 'I would not recommend it as a place for a holiday,' says Patrick O'Donovan, ' but it is a place where, without violence, they have tried to distribute a wealth that came like showers of gold from heaven. For beginners in the capitalist game they are do- - ing pretty well.'
Film editor ALLAN TYRER
Producer PATRICIA MEEHAN Preview: page It