A KEY WESTERN ALLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, SULTAN QABOOS OF OMAN DIED

Sat 11 January 2020:

The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al-Said, passed away early on Saturday, Oman state TV and the state news agency Twitter account said.

The late sultan was born on November 18, 1940 in Salalah, the capital of Oman’s southern province of Dhofar.

He is a direct descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Saidi dynasty, which created the sultanate in the 1600s after expelling the Portuguese from Muscat, now Oman’s capital.

Sultan Qaboos was educated in India and at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

When he seized power from his father in a bloodless coup in 1970, Oman was an isolated and impoverished state. Over the course of Sultan Qaboos’ 45-year reign, the sultan was credited with using Oman’s oil wealth to transform the sparsely populated Gulf nation into a rich country with a vibrant tourism industry and high standards of living.

The Sultanate consists of Oman proper and two northern exclaves, Musandam – a peninsula that occupies a strategic location adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil – and Al Madhah.

Oman has long prospered from Indian Ocean trade. In the late 18th century, the sultanate in Muscat signed entered into a friendship treaty with Britain, although it never became a British colony.

Oman, under Sultan Qaboos, has maintained a largely neutral role and has been an influential a mediator in the region, notably between Iran and the US over the proposed nuclear deal eventually signed in 2015.

Sultan Qaboos was one of the founding fathers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) formed on May 25, 1981, which has played a pivotal role in forging Arab regional unity, in addressing security challenges, and in paving the way for economic development in the area.

A key Western ally

His death leaves Oman, which is a key Western ally, without a clear successor because he never publicly named one. The sultan, who has dominated decision making in the Gulf state for decades, has secretly recorded his choice in a sealed letter should the royal family disagree on the succession line.

Oman has maintained neutrality in many recent regional conflicts, such as the war in Yemen, and has been an effective mediator between rivals in the Middle East. 

He charted an independent foreign policy, not taking sides in a power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, or in a Gulf dispute with Qatar.

Muscat kept ties with both Tehran and Baghdad during the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War, and with Iran and the United States after their diplomatic falling out in 1979.

Oman helped to mediate secret US-Iran talks in 2013 that led to an historic international nuclear pact two years later.

Medical treatment

Qaboos had traveled to Belgium on December 7 and returned home on December 13 after medical treatment and checks in Belgium, Oman state media reported, citing a Royal Court statement.

He had been expected to stay until the end of January and the Royal Court did not give details of his condition at that time.

He has traveled abroad for medical reasons at least twice since 2014. In March 2015, Qaboos had visited Germany on a month-long medical trip.

Qaboos did not attend an annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Saudi Arabia on December 3, where the country’s delegation was led by the deputy prime minister.
Successor

Qaboos has no children and has not publicly appointed a successor, but according to media reports, he secretly recorded his choice in a sealed envelope addressed to the royal family council.

The sultanate’s Basic Law says the royal family should choose a new sultan within three days of the position falling vacant.

Should it fail to reach an agreement, the nation’s defense council, the head of the Supreme Court and the heads of the two chambers of the consultative council would then enforce Qaboos’s choice and enthrone the person he designated in the envelope.

Omani journalist Yousuf al-Hooti said preparations were underway for the funeral of Sultan Qaboos in Muscat with arrangements being made for the arrival of leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council and their representatives.

“Given that Sultan Qaboos was a military one, having graduated from the prestigious Sandhurst military academy, it will be of high probability that he will be given a military procession or funeral before his burial at the royal al-Said family cemetery,” al-Hooti said.

According to al-Hooti, the top three names being primed as successors are likely to include Asaad bin Tariq al-Said, the current Deputy Prime Minister for relations and international cooperation affairs, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, the current Minister of Heritage and Culture and Shihab bin Tariq al-Said, a former Oman Navy commander and top royal advisor.

Reforms

Following the popular Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa beginning in January 2011, Sultan Qaboos embarked on wide-ranging implement economic and political reforms.

He granted Oman’s bicameral legislative body more power and authorized direct elections for its lower house, which took place in November 2011.

Additionally, unemployment benefits in the Sultanate were increased. In August 2012, a royal directive was issued mandating the speedy implementation of a national job creation plan for thousands of public and private sector Omani jobs.

As part of his government’s efforts to decentralize authority and allow greater citizen participation in local governance, Oman successfully conducted its first municipal council elections in December 2012. Announced by the sultan in 2011, the municipal councils have the power to advise the Royal Court on the needs of local districts across Oman’s 11 governorates.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!