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's Flourishing Youth Consider the Future of Their Nation

'A Young Nation' portrays Oman through the eyes of its youth and strives to put a human face on what is at stake in the country, touching on the anxious question of stability in Oman and the rest of the Middle East. This report was filmed, edited and produced by Hannah Gaber.

British Prime Minister Seeks GCC Trade Deals

Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, is in Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit.

As Britain leaves the European Union, her trip is aiming to strengthen trade and security ties in the Gulf,

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra reports.

Gaddafi's Daughter Thrown Out of Algeria After She 'Set Fire to Presidential Residence'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The late Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter was thrown out of her Algerian safe-house because she repeatedly set it on fire in fits of anger, officials have revealed.


Aisha Gaddafi, 37, has an arrest warrant against her name after fleeing Libya when her father was deposed and then killed two years ago after 42 years in power.

The western educated lawyer arrived in Algeria with other family members after her husband — an army general — was killed in the bombing raids which destroyed Gaddafi’s regime, leaving her as a single mother.

She was accorded a presidential residence in the south of the country.

Algeria’s ambassador to Libya confirmed last month that Col Gaddafi’s widow and three of his children including Aisha, had left Algeria “a long time ago” without giving further details.

It has now emerged that Algerian authorities lost patience with Miss Gaddafi, a onetime UN Goodwill Ambassador, after she kept vandalising furniture and attacking guards out of rage over her father’s fate.

“She ended up blaming Algeria for many of her problems, and also began starting fires in the house,” said a government source in Algiers.

“Shelves in the library went up in flames, as she regularly attacked army personnel looking after her safety.” The last straw was when the bleach blonde nicknamed the “Claudia Schiffer of North Africa” destroyed a portrait of Algerian president Abdul Aziz Bouteflika, local newspaper Ennahar reported.

For this sign of disrespect she was kicked out of the country, eventually finding asylum in Britain’s Gulf ally, Oman. » | Henry Samuel and Nabila Ramdani | Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Muammar Gaddafi's Family Take Refuge in Oman
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Oman, a British ally in the Gulf has offered refuge to close relatives of Muammar Gaddafi, including his wife and a hated playboy son, officials from Tripoli and Muscat revealed on Monday.


Safia Gaddafi, the dictator's widow and three of his children left a hideaway in Algeria last October, more than a year after they crossed the border from Libya.

Mohammad Abdulaziz, Libya's foreign minister, said that the group had accepted political asylum from Oman and conceded it was difficult to foresee their return to Libya, where several face criminal charges.

Sultan Qaboos, Oman's ruler, is a Sandhurst-educated Anglophile who last week hosted a three-day visit by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and he is close to several members of the Government.

The Gaddafi group includes the former leader's daughter Aisha, a lawyer who made headlines around the world with her campaigns on behalf of Saddam Hussein.

The most notorious member of the group is Gaddafi's son Hannibal. He is wanted for alleged human rights abuses by the new authorities in Tripoli.

Another son, Mohammad, is the son of the dictator's first wife, but despite being the head of the Libyan Olympic committee, he is not associated with the worst excesses of the regime. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, March 25, 2013

Why Social Media - Not Violence - Could Bring Change to Oman

BBC: The Arab Spring left the Gulf state of Oman relatively unscathed, with long-term ruler Sultan Qaboos moving to quieten discontent by introducing reforms, but how long can tradition hold back calls for change?

I woke to the roar of total silence.

Issa, an Omani bedouin of the Al-Maashani tribe, made tea as the orange-lit theatrics of sunrise began behind us. It was just him, me and the soundless dunes of the Empty Quarter.

Dinner had been Issa's too - chopped camel meat fried in camel fat, chewy and delicious, washed down with ginger tea.

Afterwards, we had chit-chatted companionably in the dark, staring upwards as the Milky Way slid across a pinprick sky, like the arch above Wembley Stadium.

We were camped in what the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes had called "a place of wind and spiders". In his day it was known as Fasad, or "decay".

The spot had since been euphemistically renamed Al-Hashman, meaning wholesome - but with its broken walls and foully undrinkable spring water, that struck me as an oddly mirthless piece of spin.

There is a lot of that in Oman these days, as the country paddles ever harder to maintain its trademark swan-like serenity.

The Arab Spring has come knocking. Last month a local journalist was jailed, accused of slander - the most high-profile of, so far, 42 court cases related to issues of public protest. » | Matthew Teller, BBC News, Oman | Thursday, November 08, 2012

Omani Culture in the Heart of the UAE
Deep inside the United Arab Emirates, there's a town called Madha - except the community is not part of the UAE.Because of a decision taken 70 years ago, Madha belongs to a different country, Oman, and maintains its own unique character. Al Jazeera's Andrew Hopkins reports from Madha.

Drug Claims in Oman Jail Ordeal

BRISBANE TIMES: AN AUSTRALIAN grandmother who was jailed for a month in Oman claims she was repeatedly drugged and made to sleep on the floor of a prison cell with 35 other women.

Anne Geddes, 62, and her partner, Australian businessman Christopher Reynolds, 60, were taken into police custody on September 8, just hours after jumping out of a moving Toyota Landcruiser driven by a people-smuggler.

The vehicle had turned off the highway and demands for more money were being made, she said.

"We were both really frightened," she told The Sun-Herald from her Dubai hotel on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Oman authorities ''dumped'' her at the United Arab Emirates border office. » | Taghred Chandab | Sunday, October 14, 2012

Oman from the Sky

Omanis Stay Put Despite Flood Fears
The valleys of Oman have supplied water to generations of families to grow crops, keep livestock and run businesses. But now the government wants thousands of people from villages near the wadis (valleys) to leave their homes because of the threat of flooding. Andrew Hopkins reports from Hail Al Ghaf on how a significant number of residents are refusing to move despite the warning.

Koningin Beatrix en Prinses Máxima dragen een hoofddoek in Oman | Königin Beatrix und Prinzessin Máxima tragen Kopftuch in Oman | La reine Beatrix et la princesse Máxima porter un foulard en Oman | Queen Beatrix and Princess Máxima Wear a Headscarf in Oman

Related »

Dutch Queen Causes Far-right Outcry as She's Pictured in a Headscarf
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dutch Queen Beatrix has sparked a far-right outcry in her country after being pictured wearing a red headscarf on a visit to a mosque in Oman.

"It is really nonsense," the popular 72-year-old monarch said of the furore.

She was quoted by reporters with her on a state visit to Oman, where television pictures showed her at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque sporting a red headscarf draped over her traditional black hat.

She had also worn a headscarf during a visit to Abu Dhabi a few days earlier on the trip accompanied by her son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima, who wore a turquoise headscarf in Oman. » | Thursday, January 12, 2012

Inside Story: Tensions in the Gulf
Internal unrest through the Arabian gulf.
 


But the country being painted as the aggressor is just 300 kilometres across the famous stretch of water - Iran.



The unrest is being billed as one between the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations and their Persian neighbour.



The foreign ministers of the six nations - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates recently met in Riyadh. 



They released a statement criticising what they called Iran's blatant interference in internal affairs, particularly in Bahrain and Kuwait.

This comes after Iran's objection to Saudi Arabia sending in troops to Bahrain during the uprising there.
 


In return, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday the GCC statement was issued under the pressure of the US government and its allies.



This episode of Inside Story discusses what 'Iranian meddling' may or may not amount to, and just what the GCC and indeed Iran are achieving by ratcheting up the rhetoric at this time.



Inside Story, with presenter Kamahl Santamaria, discusses with guests: Hussein Shobokshi, a columnist for Asharq Alaw-sat newspaper; Ghanbar Naderi, a political commentator and jounalist; and Fahad Shulemi, a security analyst and a former colonel in the Kuwaiti army. 



This episode of Inside Story aired on Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

Police Shoot One Dead in Oman
KUWAIT TIMES: MUSCAT: Omani police shot dead a protester yesterday in the port of Sohar, north of Muscat when they opened fire to disperse demonstrators demanding the release of prisoners, witnesses told AFP. It was the second death in the port during the current wave of unrest sweeping across the region, after police killed a protester at the end of February in Sohar, an industrial area some 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of the capital Muscat, particularly badly hit by unemployment.

Police tried to disperse a crowd of protestors who were hurling stones at them and fired on the crowd when the victim was hit, a witness said. "Dozens of Omanis emerged from mosques in Sohar after Friday prayers to protest and demand the release of jailed relatives" detained during protests earlier this week, one witness said. "One protester, Khalifa Al-Alawi, was hit in the head by a bullet during confrontations with the police and died immediately," the witness said. » | Saturday, April 02, 2011

Oman Detains 60 Protesters
KUWAIT TIMES: MUSCAT: Security forces detained between 50 and 60 protesters in clashes in the Omani industrial town of Sohar, witnesses said. The violence on Friday during a fifth week of protests involved the use of knives, stones, teargas and rubber bullets, Oman's general prosecutor said. It came three days after a crackdown against protesters to clear a Sohar roundabout where about 100 people had camped out. A 25-year-old man injured by a rubber bullet in Friday's clashes died in hospital. Activists told Reuters security forces used teargas and beat some protesters with batons. » | Sunday, April 03, 2011

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 Protesters Call for Reform
Hundreds of protesters rallied across Oman on Friday, demanding political reform and better working conditions.

Rival demonstrations also took place in support of Oman's ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

In the industrial city of Sohar, protestors called for an end to corruption and higher wages.

Hundreds of Protesters Camp in Oman
ABNA.IR: Oman, Muscat - Hundreds of Omani anti-government protesters have camped outside the Consultative Council in the capital Muscat to demand political reform and better life conditions.

They were carrying placards reading, “We want jobs” and “We want freedom of press, AFP reported on Wednesday.

The protesters also called for bringing to justice those responsible for the deaths of demonstrators in the northern town of Sohar.

At least six people were killed in Sohar on Sunday after police opened fire on the anti-government demonstrators.

Also on Tuesday, Omani forces used tanks to disperse the protesters blocking roads spanning the industrial city of Sohar and the capital Muscat.

The army forces say they succeeded in driving away the protesters and the operation ended peacefully. >>> | Thursday, March 03, 2011

Dutch Queen's State Visit to Oman Postponed
THE WASHINGTON POST: THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Dutch Queen Beatrix has postponed a state visit to Oman amid ongoing unrest in the strategic Gulf state.

The monarch had been due to begin a three-day visit to Oman on Sunday, accompanied by heir to the throne Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima. >>> The Associated Press | Wednesday, March 02, 2011