Sultan of Oman Dies, State Media Announces

THE GUARDIAN: Sultan Qaboos bin Said had no children and did not publicly appoint a successor, but left name in sealed envelope if royal family cannot decide

Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said died on Friday evening, state media has announced. Omani television news said the council’s high military council had called the ruling family to convene and choose a new ruler.

Western-backed Qaboos, 79, had ruled the Gulf Arab state since he took over in a bloodless coup in 1970 with the help of Oman’s former colonial power Britain.

Qaboos had no children and had not publicly appointed a successor. A 1996 statute says the ruling family must choose a successor within three days of the throne becoming vacant.

If they fail to agree, a council of military and security officials, supreme court chiefs and heads of the two assemblies will put in power a person whose name has been secretly written by the sultan in a sealed letter. » | Staff and agencies | Saturday, January 11, 2020

Sultan Qaboos of Oman, Arab world's longest-serving ruler, dies aged 79 »

Oman Readies Baroque Succession Process as Sultan's Health Worsens

THE GUARDIAN: With Qaboos bin Said’s illness seemingly terminal, an elaborate set of rules is enacted

Elaborate discussions are under way in the Omani court about a potential successor to Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has ruled the Arab nation for nearly 50 years but whose longterm illness has been worsening.

The succession process involves the opening of sealed letters in the court in Muscat identifying the sultan’s choice of successor, if the court cannot agree among itself.

The sultan, one of the mainstays of Middle East politics for the past four decades, returned a week ago from Belgium where his treatment for a reoccurrence of cancer of the colon he has suffered from for four years was cut short. He had been expected to stay until the end of January.

A former British protectorate in the Arabian Peninsula, Oman has been ruled by Qaboos ever since a bloodless coup in 1970 enacted with the help of Britain. He has travelled abroad for medical reasons at least twice since 2014.

Qaboos has no children and has not publicly appointed a successor but he secretly recorded his choice in a sealed envelope addressed to the royal family council. The Al Said dynasty has ruled Oman since the mid-18th century. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Sunday, December 22, 2019

Oman: Heikler Thronwechsel

ZEIT ONLINE: Oman galt lange als Hort der Stabilität und geschätzter Vermittler. Doch nun ist der Sultan schwer krank. Der Thronwechsel könnte der Region weitere Konflikte bescheren.

Jahrzehntelang galt Oman als ein von allen Seiten geschätzter Vermittler. Unterhändler aus Teheran und Washington bahnten 2003 in Maskat die jetzigen Atomverhandlungen an. Bei heiklen Geiselbefreiungen laufen oft die Fäden in der omanischen Hauptstadt zusammen. Überdies müht sich Oman als Mitglied des Golfkooperationsrates stets um politischen Ausgleich zwischen Iran und den übrigen Monarchien am Golf.

Vielleicht war es ein Segen für das Land im Osten der Arabischen Halbinsel, dass seine Ölvorkommen nicht so üppig sind wie bei den ganz Großen nebenan. Und so nutzte Sultan Qaboos, der sich 1970 an die Macht putschte, seine absolute Autorität und die 5,5 Milliarden Barrel Bodenschätze, um aus seiner ramponierten Heimat mit damals zehn Kilometern geteerter Straße und einem tobenden Bürgerkrieg einen modernen Staat zu formen, dessen Einwohner noch nie zuvor so lange in Frieden gelebt haben. » | Quelle: ZeitOnline | Freitag, 20. Februar 2015

Workers at Oman Oil Refineries Stage Demonstrations
REUTERS AFRICA: MUSCAT - About 200 workers at two refineries staged demonstrations on Sunday, demanding higher wages, as a series of concessions by Oman's veteran ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said have failed to quell discontent and unrest.

The protesters, along with those working in an oil field who went on strike last week, have complained that they are among the least-paid oil workers in the Gulf.

"We want higher pay, better pension, training, regular promotions and more Omanis in the management team," Mohamed Al Harthi, one of the protesters at the Muscat refinery, said. » | © Thomson Reuters | Sunday, March 20, 2011

Oman Sultan to Cede Some Powers after Protests
REUTERS: Oman's ruler has decided to cede some legislative powers to a partially elected council, the state news agency reported on Sunday, in an apparent effort to quell protests in the Gulf Arab sultanate.

The ONA agency also said Sultan Qaboos bin Said would double monthly welfare payments and increase pension benefits, becoming the latest Gulf ruler to offer handsome incentives to citizens in the wake of unrest that has rocked much of the Arab world.

The normally tranquil Oman, an oil-producing nation at the mouth of the Gulf, was stunned by protests in at least two cities last month that left one person dead.

The sultan, who has ruled Oman for 40 years, sacked a string of ministers in a recent cabinet reshuffle and on Sunday appeared to make his biggest concession yet by announcing that he would offer lawmaking powers to the Oman Council.

At present, only the sultan and his cabinet can legislate. >>> Saleh Al-Shaibany | MUSCAT | Sunday, March 13, 2011

Fury at Omani Sultan's Cash for Cambridge
THE INDEPENDENT: Cambridge University is at the centre of a row over ethical funding of universities after accepting a new donation from the Oman government to promote religious understanding. The deal, signed only two weeks ago, is the second substantial donation the university has received from the Sultanate – bringing total funding to the university to well over £4m.

The university has also received £8m from the House of Saud to set up a new centre for Islamic studies.

Last night a newly created students' group, campaigning to promote "clean" funding of universities, called on the university to refuse to accept any more cash from either regime – on the grounds it could be compromised. Continue reading and comment >>> Richard Garner, Education Editor | Wednesday, March 09, 2011

My comment:

The Brits fly around the world like prostitutes, accepting money for this and that from this one and that. Would Sultan Qaboos accept money for Omani universities for the promotion of Christian understanding? Or the Saudi's king, King Abdullah? No, I thought not. So why do we have to accept money for the promotion of the under-standing of Islam? I am looking forward to the day when these things are done in a spirit of reciprocity. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Oman Police Kill Two in Clashes with Protesters
REUTERS: Omani police fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reform on Sunday, killing two people, and demonstrators set government buildings and cars ablaze, witnesses said.

The trouble in the town of Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare sign of discontent in the normally sleepy Gulf Arab sultanate and followed a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.

Witnesses said more than 2,000 protesters had gathered for a second day in a square in Sohar demanding political reforms, more jobs and better pay before police tried to disperse them, first with tear gas and batons and then rubber bullets.

"Two people have died after police fired rubber bullets into the crowd," one witness, who declined to be named, told Reuters from Sohar. A third person was reported in critical condition after being shot.

Another witness said the police had used live ammunition, but that could not immediately be confirmed. Troops deployed in the area, but did not intervene, witnesses said.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said, trying to ease tensions in U.S. ally Oman, reshuffled his cabinet on Saturday, a week after a small protest in the capital Muscat. He has ruled for four decades, exercising absolute power. Political parties are banned.

Oman's state news agency said riots in Sohar had destroyed public and private property but did not mention any deaths. >>> Saleh Al-Shaibany, Muscat | Sunday, February 27, 2011

Alan Duncan, Sultan Qaboos, and the Sultan's ‘Glittering Gifts’
I just wonder why Sultan Qaboos, the Sultan of Oman, showers Alan Duncan with ‘glittering gifts’? – Mark

MAIL ONLINE: With the first hints of autumn in the air, the sound of weary gardeners breathing a sigh of relief echoes across Britain.

But for MP Alan Duncan an aching back and calloused hands are unlikely to be high on his list of immediate problems.

For while his four-bedroom constituency home is surrounded by an acre of beautifully-tended gardens, their appearance isn't entirely down to his hard graft.

'I spend a fortune on my garden in Rutland,' he boasted last year, explaining that it is a place 'where you will never see a weed'.

What British taxpayers now know is that the pristine flower-beds and carefully kept lawns owe almost as much to them as to the 52-year-old Tory high-flyer.

Earlier this year, leaked expenses revealed that Mr Duncan had claimed in excess of £4,000 over three years to maintain his garden.

This sum included the costs of a £6-an-hour gardener who, at times, was pocketing more than £350-a-week.

Then there were the running costs of Mr Duncan's ride-on lawn-mower - a £598 service and a £49 bill for puncture repair - not to forget the £1.60 price of a bag of nails.

Mr Duncan tried to put through even more, a bill of £3,194.50 for the period between July 2006 and March 2007 being presented to the House of Commons fees office.

Alan Duncan with his partner, James Dunseath, the man to whom he proposed whilst on holiday in Oman.
It declined to pay, pointing out that the sum in question 'may not be necessarily an appropriate use of public funds'.

In all, Mr Duncan claimed £127,658 over six years under second home allowances, £126 short of the maximum.

While agreeing to pay back some £5,000 he stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing, saying: 'This is not guilt. This is a voluntary act.'

Amid the ensuing furore over moats and duck islands and 'flipped' second homes, as far as Mr Duncan was concerned that might just about have been that.

Until, that is, the multi-millionaire former oil-trader single-handedly reignited the public's ire by bemoaning the lot of a modern day MP.

Covertly recorded on camera, the Shadow Leader of the House was heard to complain that MPs were being treated like 's***' and forced to live on 'rations' in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Again the silver-tongued, bouffanthaired [sic] MP apologized. And again he sloped away hoping it would all blow over.

But, on Monday, David Cameron finally acted against Mr Duncan, moving him from the Shadow Cabinet to become justice spokesman with responsibility for prisons.

Critics complain that this demotion is little more than a slap on the wrist and that Mr Duncan may yet return to frontline politics as a Government minister.

'He is a very experienced politician who still has a lot to give and hopes that he will get another chance to prove this in the future,' a close friend told me.

If he does, then it would do well to remember just how that 'experience' was gained.

His views on money owe much to the fact that by the age of 30 he was already a wealthy man, once describing £1 million as 'not going very far'.

As for his £65,000-a-year salary as a frontbench MP, that was also clearly insufficient - until recently Mr Duncan pulled in an extra £90,000-odd from directorships.

His expertise is in trading oil, a line of work that has seen him linked to a number of characters mired in financial scandals.

Then there are his property interests. These include his £1 million-plus London home, his beautifully appointed constituency home and a third property that he rents out next to his own.

He bought it for £140,000 in a highly unusual transaction 15 years ago - more of which later. It is now worth at least five times that sum.

And let's not forget Mr Duncan's love of foreign travel. In the past decade he has spent a staggering 99 days living it up in luxury in Oman - the tab picked up by the Sultan's government.

Gifts from the same source include five watches, three sets of cufflinks, and a 'traditional Omani coffee pot and incense burner'.

He even had his appendix removed for free while on holiday there. No chance then, at least, of the 'rations' causing any problems as they work their way through Mr Duncan's system. Whining Tory Alan Duncan's £1m Gulf War oil 'rations' and glittering gifts from Sultan of Oman >>> Tom Rawstorne | Saturday, September 12, 2009

About Sultan Qaboos >>>