Issue 141 (May - June)

p. 14 M y father Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Habtoor was a proud son of the Al Murrar tribe, a sub-tribe of Bani Yas whose origins stretch to the Oasis of Liwa that flanks the Empty Quarter – one of the hottest, driest deserts on the planet. Many of the most influential Emirati families originally hail from Liwa and still feel emotionally connected to their ancestral home. Members of the Al Habtoor extended family, including my own branch, are related by marriage to the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai as well as prominent clans, among them the Al Otaiba, Al Mijren, Al Shaafar, Al Ghaith, Al Mazrooie and Al Suwaidi families. I have never been able to discover the origins of my family’s name, Al Habtoor, despite efforts by Dubai’s last expatriate police chief and a former president of Yemen to solve the mystery. ROOTS View of the creek / The vast Liwa Oasis, bordering the hostile Empty Quarter (Rub’ al-Khali desert)