Sultan Qaboos, the Anglophile tyrant of Oman, has come to the aid of Britain's struggling arms industry with a $4 billion order for 20 military aircraft. British prime minister David Cameron (seen enthusing about the deal during a visit to Oman in the video above) says it will support thousands of… Read more
Archive: oman
24th September 2011
While the sultan of Oman has been winning gratitude from President Obama for helping to secure the release of two American hikers imprisoned in Iran, the plight of three men facing jail in Oman is attracting less attention.
Journalists Ibrahim al-Mammari and Yousef al-Haj have been sentenced to… Read more
3rd April 2011
Oman continues to be largely off the international radar. Protests there are still on a small scale compared with some of the other Arab countries. Nevertheless, as Simeon Kerr notes in the Financial Times, Sultan Qaboos is facing "the most sustained period of unrest since he took power in a palace… Read more
4th March 2011
He may be a Britain-friendly, music-loving 'renaissance man', but Oman's Sultan Qaboos still tolerates no dissent ... Read the full article at Comment Is Free.
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 4 March 2011.
27th February 2011
With Gaddafi on the way out, the mantle of longest-surviving Arab autocrat will shortly pass to Sultan Qaboos, the British-backed ruler of Oman. Or perhaps not, since his regime is now coming under popular pressure too.
Protests have been reported this weekend in two Omani cities at opposite ends… Read more
30th November 2010
Amid all the excitement about the king of Saudi Arabia urging the Americans to bomb Iran, the Wikileaks documents show Sultan Qaboos of Oman taking a much cooler view.
In a two-hour meeting with Admiral William Fallon of Centcom last February, the Sultan remarked that the Iranians are "not fools,"… Read more
6th May 2010
Omani women can now appeal directly to Sultan Qaboos if their family do not allow them to marry the man of their own choice, according to a royal decree reported in The National. The paper explains:
Many parents, according to judicial experts, use the court of law to prevent their daughters from… Read more
26th November 2009
A BBC radio programme broadcast on Monday (re-playable here) has shed some new and intriguing light on Britain's role in the Omani coup of 1970 when Sultan Qaboos deposed his father.
Basically, it was decided that Qaboos would serve British interests better than his father and plans were hatched to… Read more
23rd November 2009
The National newspaper reports from Oman on a rarely-discussed phenomenon: prejudice against widows.
"Many Omani widows struggle to lead happy lives after losing their husbands in a society that treats them as a burden and bad luck," the paper says. "According to a local superstition, anyone they… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
