Saqr was an Arab nationalist,[3] which undermined the British Empire's control of the Trucial States.
[5] In 1965, Glencairn Paul, the British Political Agent in Dubai, was tasked to inform Saqr of his deposition.
On 24 January 1972, following soon after the creation of the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971, Saqr returned to Sharjah from Egypt with a number of mercenaries and seized power in an attempted coup.
Besieged by the Union Defence Force, which arrived an hour later, Saqr finally gave himself up in the early hours of 25 January to UAE Minister of Defence, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
However, Khalid was killed in the action[8] and Saqr's brother Ahmed was offered the position of UAE justice minister.