Jitters over Attack on Indian Mall in Oman
THE TELEGRAPH - CALCUTTA: Washington – The first targeted attack on an Indian-owned property since the Arab world went up in flames in January has sent up a wave of concern in New Delhi that it may have to brace for an influx of its citizens from the Gulf, a repeat of the events following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The burning down of Lulu Hypermarket in the Omani town of Sohar this week is particularly unsettling for the Congress party which fears that any repetition of this incident creating a pattern could have an echo in elections in Kerala, which has lakhs of households living off income from its people working in the Gulf. >>> K. P. Nayar | Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Omani Forces Break Up Demonstration
VOICE OF AMERICA: Omani forces have dispersed demonstrators who were blocking the road to a port in the northern industrial city of Sohar, where protests earlier this week turned deadly.



Reuters news agency quotes witnesses as saying one person was injured Tuesday when security forces fired warning shots into the air. Witnesses said tanks were also deployed. 



The protesters had taken to the streets for a fourth day. They want more jobs, higher salaries and democratic reforms in the Gulf state, where ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said has been in power since 1970. >>> | Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Looting Reported Amid Oman Protests
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Demonstrations calling for economic changes continue into third day in northeastern city of Sohar.

Residents in the northeastern Omani city of Sohar have reportedly looted a supermarket damaged in protests, as demonstrations over economic woes carried on into a third day.

Security forces sealed off main roads to the city on Monday and hundreds of protesters reportedly stormed a police station, while protests spread throughout the city.

Sohar, a city about 200km northwest of the capital of Muscat, was the scene of protests over the weekend, as demonstrators demanded higher salaries, jobs for the unemployed and the removal of some government ministers.

But police did not respond to Monday's protests, witnesses said, and appeared to have withdrawn from the scene of the looting.

"It's a free for all," said one man who watched while people grabbed food and other goods, piling their hauls into stolen trolleys and heading away from the burnt Lulu Hypermarket, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.

"There's no security ... I want to live," said a 28-year-old Omani, who identified himself as Youssef, walking away with 10 bottles of juice.

One woman was seen stacking up slightly burned cartons of eggs, powdered milk, orange juice and cream cheese on her trolley and calmly leaving the supermarket. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Monday, February 28, 2011

Oman: Demonstrationen erreichen die Hauptstadt
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Im Oman haben am Montag wieder Hunderte Menschen für mehr Arbeitsplätze und politische Reformen demonstriert. Die Zahl der Toten nach Zusammenstößen am Sonntag zwischen Demonstranten und der Polizei blieb weiterhin unklar.

Im Oman haben die Demonstrationen für mehr Arbeitsplätze und politische Reformen die Hauptstadt Maskat erreicht. Hunderte Menschen protestierten am Montag vor einem Regierungsgebäude. In der Industriestadt Sohar blockierten ebenfalls Hunderte Demonstranten Zufahrtswege zum Hafen, zu einer Raffinerie sowie einer Aluminium-Fabrik. Nach Auskunft des Hafenbetreibers konnte Öl jedoch wie gewohnt exportiert werden. Die Zahl der Toten nach Zusammenstößen am Sonntag zwischen Demonstranten und der Polizei war zunächst unklar. >>> FAZ.net | Montag, 28. Februar 2011

FAZ Video hier abspielen (Oman: Demonstrationen erreichen die Hauptstadt)

Omani Protesters Block Road to Port after 6 Die
REUTERS: Omani protesters demanding political reforms blocked roads to a main export port and refinery on Monday and a doctor said the death toll from clashes with police in the Gulf Arab sultanate had risen to six.

Hundreds of protesters blocked the entrance to the industrial area of the northern coastal town of Sohar, which includes a port, refinery and aluminum factory. They pushed back four army vehicles that had been observing the scene.

"We want to see the benefit of our oil wealth distributed evenly to the population," one protester yelled over a loudhailer near the port. "We want to see a scale-down of expatriates in Oman so more jobs can be created for Omanis."

The unrest in Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare outbreak of discontent in the normally sleepy sultanate ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said for four decades, and follows a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.

Oman's government, trying to calm tensions, promised on Sunday to create more jobs and give benefits to job seekers.

A main supermarket in Sohar was burning on Monday after being looted, witnesses said. Protesters stormed the town's police station on Sunday to try to free detainees before burning it. They had also set two state offices alight.

As well as those demonstrating outside the industrial area, hundreds more were at the main Globe Roundabout, angry after police opened fire on Sunday at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reforms, jobs and better pay.

Graffiti scrawled on a statue said: "The people are hungry." Another message read: "No to oppression of the people."

Nearby, sidewalks were smashed and office windows broken. Troops deployed around the town but were not intervening to disperse protesters.

"There are no jobs, there's no freedom of opinion. The people are tired and people want money. People want to end corruption," said Ali al-Mazroui, 30, who is unemployed. >>> Jason Benham and Saleh Al-Shaibany | Monday, February 28, 2011

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

Egypt Protests Give Arab Media a Headache
THE GUARDIAN: In their Egypt coverage the Arab media – like the regimes they report on – have failed to move on from the old ways

Faced with an event of Berlin Wall magnitude on its home turf, the Arab media is torn over the uprising in Egypt and how to report it, if at all.

In the old days, the media's role was not so much to report the news as to "guide" the public, shielding them from "harmful" information or anything that might inflame their passions.

That ceased to be a viable option more than 20 years ago with the arrival of satellite television, especially al-Jazeera, and since then the internet has made it less viable still. And yet, large sections of the Arab media still persist in their hidebound ways.

At the weekend, while al-Jazeera was providing minute-by-minute coverage of events in Tahrir Square (and generally doing it better than western news organisations), Egyptian state television was focusing its cameras on quieter parts of Cairo, including a tranquil bridge over the Nile.

In Oman, ruled despotically by Sultan Qaboos for the last 40 years, it is much the same. The Oman Observer seems only interested in reporting government news from Egypt.

On Sunday, its headline was "Mubarak picks vice-president" and on Tuesday it was "Egypt unveils new cabinet". This morning, after yesterday's dramatic events in Cairo, it ignores Egypt completely.

In the same country, meanwhile, the Times of Oman has been playing a slightly straighter bat: "Egyptians seek million-strong march to oust Mubarak". It even quoted a protester saying: "The only thing we will accept from him [Mubarak] is that he gets on a plane and leaves." >>> Brian Whitaker | Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Queen Continues Gulf Trip [Nov. 26] With Stop In Oman
The Queen impresses the Sultan of Oman with her art knowledge as she continues her five-day state visit to the Gulf

Oman’s 40-year Transformation
CNN: As Oman celebrates four decades of rule under Sultan Qaboos, Rima Maktabi looks at what's in store for its future.

Oman Says No Plans to Ban BlackBerry Services
ARAB NEWS: MUSCAT: Oman has no plans to block BlackBerry services, the small Gulf state said on Monday, as regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia worked with the device's maker on a solution that could avert a ban of some services.

Offering the services was part of its "philosophy of free market in the sector," Oman's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in a statement reported by state news agency ONA. >>> Reuters | Monday, August 09, 2010

Cyclone Phet Reaches Oman

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 >>>

Valerie J. Hoffman – Ibadi Islam: An Introduction
Ibadism, a distinct sect of Islam that is neither Sunni nor Shi‘i, exists mainly in Oman, East Africa, the Mzab valley of Algeria, the Nafus mountains of Libya, and the island of Jerba in Tunisia. The sect developed out of the seventh-century Islamic sect known as the Khawarij, and shares with that group the desire to found a righteous Muslim society and the belief that true Muslims are only to be found in their own sect. Ibadis refer to themselves as “the Muslims” or “the people of straightness” (ahl al-istiqama). Nonetheless, Ibadis see themselves as quite different from Khawarij.

Whereas the Khawarij had labeled all Muslims who committed a grave sin without repentance mushrikun--i.e., unbelievers whose guilt is tantamount to idolatry and merits the capital punishment deserved by all apostates of the faith--Ibadis see such people as kuffar ni‘ma--monotheists who are ungrateful for the blessings God has bestown upon them. Ibadis distinguish between kufr ni‘ma and kufr shirk, which is the unbelief of idolatry. The Khawarij had not made such a distinction, and neither do the Sunni Muslims, who likewise equate kufr with unbelief but, unlike the Khawarij, maintain that a sinning Muslim is still a believer. The word kufr, which is typically translated into English as “unbelief,” literally means “ingratitude.” The characteristic position of human beings, according to the Qur’an, is not their ignorance of the existence of God, but their failure to be grateful for His kindness and blessings, which should prompt people to turn to Him in worship and give generous charity to the poor, orphans and widows. The Qur’an contrasts the believers, who are grateful (shakirun), with the unbelievers, who are ungrateful (kafirun).

The Ibadi attitude toward kuffar ni‘ma, whether they be sinning Ibadis or non-Ibadi Muslims, was that one should practice “dissociation” (bara’a) toward them. This “dissociation,” however, is usually an internal attitude of withholding “friendship” (wilaya), rather than outright hostility. Nonetheless, non-Ibadis who call themselves Muslims and pray facing the direction of the Ka‘ba are ahl al-qibla, not idolaters. They may be kuffar, but not in the sense of idolatry, only in the sense of kufr ni‘ma outlined above. The practice of dissociation (bara’a) does not imply enmity. Nur al-Din al-Salimi (1869-1914) clarified this when asked about the difference between dissociation from an unbeliever (bara’at al-mushrik) and dissociation from a corrupt monotheist (bara’at al-muwahhid al-fasiq). Salimi replied:

Although the mushrik is farther [from the truth] than the corrupt monotheist, both are cursed. Nonetheless, the Law allows certain things with the corrupt monotheist that it does not allow with the polytheist, such as intermarriage, eating their slaughtered animals, inheritance, giving the greeting of peace, saying “God bless you” if he sneezes, praying behind him, praying over him if he dies, accepting his testimony, and interacting with him in all worldly matters just as one would interact with Muslims with whom one has wilaya.

It is interesting to note that British observers of Omani rule in East Africa commented that Ibadis are the least fanatic and sectarian of all Muslims, and openly associate with people of all faiths and pray together with Sunni Muslims. Hostile action is reserved for one type of person: the unjust ruler who refuses to mend his ways or relinquish his power. >>> Valerie J. Hoffman, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Illinois | Undated

Beautiful Oman

Muscat: Capital of Oman

Oman Navigates Between Iran and Arab Nations
Iranian smugglers operating last month at a port in Khasab, Oman, across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. The smuggling is aided and taxed by officials in Oman. Photo credit: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MUSCAT, Oman — As Iran finds itself locked in an escalating cold war-style conflict with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations, the quietly influential Sultanate of Oman has accelerated its cooperation with Tehran, nurturing an alliance that helps empower Iran while highlighting the deep divisions among Arab capitals.

Oman, a strategically vital, insistently pragmatic country, has refused overtures of its larger neighbors to pull away from Iran. Instead, it defied Egypt and Saudi Arabia by declining to join them in boycotting a summit meeting in Qatar in January that was held to support Hamas, the Iranian-backed militant group. The Iranian news agency Fars said that Oman and Iran were close to completing a security pact.

The close ties between Iran and Oman, and the reasons behind them, help explain the West’s failure to cripple Iran with trade sanctions, as well as the inability of Iran’s Arab opponents to build a unified opposition to its growing regional influence.

“For us, this is the expression of being realistic,” said Salim al-Mahruqi, a former Omani diplomat who had served in Washington. He now works for the Culture Ministry here in Muscat, the capital city.

“Iran is a big neighbor, and it is there to stay,” he said.

Oman, like Syria and Qatar, sees in Iran an important political and economic ally that is too powerful and too potentially dangerous to ignore, let alone antagonize. Even the United Arab Emirates, which is battling with Iranian leaders over the title to three Persian Gulf islands, has done little to stop billions of dollars in annual trade with Iran.

Rarely in the news, Oman has long been a pivotal behind-the-scenes player in the region. It is an absolute monarchy, led since 1970 by Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has fostered a diplomatic approach that gives his nation the unique status of having close ties to both Iran and the United States.

Oman has at times served as a go-between for the two nations, and it has left open the possibility that the United States could use Omani military bases for staging operations in the region.

Unlike Syria and Qatar, which want larger regional roles, Oman is strictly focused on bolstering its domestic stability. Omanis continue the relationship with Iran because of historic ties, because they know it could easily overrun their nation, if it so chose, and because it has for generations been an important commercial partner. >>> By Michael Slackman* | Friday, May 15, 2009

*Mona el-Naggar contributed reporting from Oman.

Oman to Boycott Paris Book Fair
PRESS TV (IRAN): Oman has boycotted this year's Paris International Book Fair in protest at the invitation of the Zionist regime as the fair's guest of honor.

“Oman has taken part in the fair twice before but is declining to do so this year after the Arab League urged its members to shun the event because of Israel's special designated status”, culture ministry official Khaled al-Ghasani told AFP.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have already announced their decisions to boycott the fair.

On February 27, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) called upon all its 50 member states to boycott the fair.

Thirty-nine Israeli writers have been invited to participate in the fair to mark the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Zionist regime.

The Paris Book Fair will run from March 14 to 19. [Source: Oman boycotts Paris Book Fair >>>]

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)