Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who modernized Oman, dies at 79
Under the Mideast’s longest-ruling monarch, Oman became known as a welcoming tourist destination and a key Mideast interlocutor.
By Saphora Smith
The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said, an esteemed mediator and broker in a deeply divided region, has died. He was 79.
The long-time sultan has ruled over Oman, a Gulf state situated on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, for almost fifty years after overthrowing his father in a bloodless coup in 1970.
The state-run Oman News Agency announced his death late Friday on its official Twitter account. The royal court declared three days of mourning.
The elderly ruler returned to Oman in December after seeking medical treatment in Belgium, according to Reuters. He has traveled abroad for medical reasons at least twice since 2014, the news agency reported.
The news agency mourned the death of the Sultan and praised the “towering renaissance” he had presided over. It said his “balanced policy” of mediating between rival camps in a volatile region had earned the world’s respect.
The sultan’s death had raised the risk of unrest in this country on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.
The unmarried Sultan Qaboos had no children and did not publicly name an heir, a tradition among the ruling Al Said dynasty whose history is replete with bloody takeovers. But within hours, Oman state television announced Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, who had served as culture minister, as the new sultan.
Said had secretly recorded his first and second choices in two sealed envelopes held in two different regions, according to Marc Valeri, director of the Centre for Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter.
Ilan Goldenberg, the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said succession was always a challenge when you have someone who has ruled for some 50 years.
But he said he hoped Oman’s new sultan could pursue a similar foreign strategy to Said, whose rule has been defined by a low-key foreign policy that has focused on neutrality in geopolitical issues as well as mediation between foes.
“It’s served Oman well and it’s also been good for the region,” he said. “We need more players like Oman, frankly.”
Haitham’s rule was likely to be characterized by continuity, particularly with regard to its role in diplomacy, said Jeremy Jones, a senior associate member of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and an author on the country.
“What turns out to be notable about the Omani succession is that it has proceeded very smoothly,” he said.
“Within a few hours of the death of Sultan Qaboos the new sultan was chosen and sworn in after which the funeral of Sultan Qaboos took place. The atmosphere on the street in Muscat is calm and sombre,” he said, referring to the country’s capital.
Haitham’s message to Omanis and the world was clear: Oman would continue down the path laid by Qaboos as a facilitator of peace.
“We will follow the same line as the late sultan, and the principles that he asserted for the foreign policy of our country, of peaceful coexistence among nations and people, and good neighborly behavior of non-interference in the affairs of others,” he said in his first public remarks as sultan.
Oman has long been an interlocutor of the West with Iran and has also refused to support a side in a dispute within the Gulf Cooperation Council which saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia cut ties and blockade Qatar in 2017.
Under Said, the sultanate has had a quiet role in fostering negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians and has openly called for a Palestinian state while also acknowledging a need for an Israeli nation.
Last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Gulf state, joining Said in the first meeting of its kind in more than 20 years.
“It is one of the few countries in the Middle East that does not get embroiled in civil conflicts and regional rivalries,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “This is the signature of Sultan Qaboos.”
Domestically, after ousting his father in 1970, Said presided over a range of modernization and infrastructure projects including constructing schools, hospitals and port facilities, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. He also focused on pacifying civil and tribal strife within Oman, co-opting dissidents and marking the end of civil and tribal wars and the beginning of peace, according to Gerges.
Internationally, one of Said’s most extraordinary diplomatic feats was the fostering of secret talks between the U.S. and Iranian representatives in Oman, that gave birth to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
“Qaboos actually personally developed a relationship with the Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, that pretty much very few leaders in the world have,” said Goldenberg.
It “speaks to his personal diplomacy and effectiveness,” he added.
It was originally Said’s ability to negotiate the release of American backpackers who were detained by Iranian officials while hiking together along the Iran-Iraq border in 2009, that convinced the Obama administration that Said had direct ties and sway with Iran’s leadership, Goldenberg said.
“That’s why the Omani’s became the key channel,” he added. “It’s also easier to hide the channel because Oman is this low-key, under the radar player.”
nbcnews.com
Haitham bin Tariq sworn in as Oman’s new sultan
The former culture minister has been named as successor to late Sultan Qaboos.
Oman has named Haitham bin Tariq Al Said as the country’s new ruler following the death of his cousin Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, state television announced.
The former culture minister was sworn in before the ruling family council on Saturday morning, just hours after the announcement of Sultan Qaboos’ death.
State television said authorities had opened a letter by Sultan Qaboos naming his successor, without elaborating, before announcing Haitham bin Tariq as the new ruler.
“Haitham bin Tariq was sworn in as the new sultan of the country … after a meeting of the family which decided to appoint the one who was chosen by the sultan,” the government said in a Twitter post.
In his first address to the nation, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq pledged to maintain the Gulf state’s foreign policy, which he said was built on peaceful coexistence and maintaining friendly ties with all nations.
“We will continue to follow in the same course the late sultan adopted … embracing foreign policies based on peaceful coexistence among peoples and countries without any interference in the domestic affairs of other states,” he said in a speech broadcast on state television.
“We will continue as always … contributing and calling for peaceful and amicable solutions for all disputes,” he added, paying tribute to the late sultan.
“The least we hope for is to follow in his [Qaboos] footsteps and remain guided by his wisdom into the future, and preserve … the achievements he made,” Sultan Haitham bin Tariq said.Oman’s newly sworn-in Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said receives condolences during the funeral of his cousin, the late Sultan Qaboos, in Muscat [Sultan Al Hasani/Reuters]
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq also called for efforts to develop the relatively small oil producing country and pledged to continue working towards raising the Omani people’s “standard of living”.
‘Mature state’
The sultan is Oman’s paramount decision maker, and also holds the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, finance and foreign affairs.
The Omani constitution stipulates that a successor must be named by the royal family within three days of the throne falling vacant. The sultan must be a member of the royal family as well as “Muslim, mature, rational and the legitimate son of Omani Muslim parents”.
Sultan Qaboos, one of the Middle East’s longest-serving rulers who maintained the country’s neutrality in the region, had been ill for some time and was believed to have been suffering from colon cancer.
The 79-year-old ruled Oman since overthrowing his father in a bloodless coup in 1970.
He had no children and had not publicly appointed a successor to rule the nation’s 4.5 million people.
Oman observers had said the sultan’s three cousins – including Haitham bin Tariq – stood the best chance.
Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor at Qatar University’s Gulf Studies Centre, said maintaining Oman’s status as a “mature state” will be an important task at a time the country faced a number of challenges including unemployment.
“In regional matters … the role Oman has played so far is significant. It confirmed the importance of Oman regionally and internationally,” he said. “I think this is likely to continue”.
Commenting on Oman’s mediating role regionally and internationally, Zweiri said the new sultan was “very close” to the decision-making process and aware of what was needed when it came to such efforts.
“I don’t expect really any major shift in all of that,” he said.
“I think Oman will continue to play that positive role, cooling down a lot of conflicts, because they seek stability and security for the region.”
Haitham bin Tariq’s appointment as sultan comes at a time when the Gulf Cooperation Council has become deeply divided following the Saudi Arabia-led blockade against Qatar.
It also comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
In 2015, Oman played a crucial role in secret negotiations leading to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which has been unraveling following Washington’s 2018 decision to withdraw from it and reimpose strangling economic sanctions against Tehran.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
Oman’s Sultan Qaboos dies aged 79: State media
Oman declares a three-day mourning period for ruler known for promoting peace in the region.
Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Arab world’s longest-ruling monarch known for promoting peace, has died, according to an announcement by state media.
“With sadness … the Omani Sultanate court mourns … our Sultan Qaboos bin Said … who God chose to be by his side on Friday evening,” the announcement on Saturday morning said.
It added that 79-year-old Qaboos died after “a wise and triumphant march rich with generosity that embraced Oman and extended to the Arab, Muslim and entire world, and achieved a balanced policy that the whole world respected”.
A three-day period of mourning has been declared in Oman and the country’s flag will be flown at half-mast for 40 days.
Later on Saturday, Oman named Qaboos’s cousing Haitham bin Tariq Al Said as the country’s new ruler in a smooth transition.
The former culture minister, 65, was sworn in before the ruling family council on Saturday morning.
State television said authorities had opened a letter by Qaboos naming his successor, without elaborating, before announcing Haitham bin Tariq as the new ruler.
Qaboos’s funeral procession began in the capital, Muscat, as thousands gathered in the streets leading up to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque where prayers were held before noon, ahead of his burial.
Sultan Haitham stood in front facing the casket, with the traditional curved dagger, or khanjar, strapped to his waist. Qaboos was later buried in a family cemetery.
In his first address to the nation, Sultan Haitham promised to continue his predecessor’s foreign policy which made Oman an important regional mediator.
Omanis took to social media to mourn the death of a ruler who had made regular tours of the nation to speak to citizens, often driving his own four-wheel drive in the convoys.
“The first words I heard from my weeping mother after news of the great Sultan Qaboos’ death was: The father of orphans, of the poor, of the downtrodden, of all of us, has died,” Twitter user Abdullah bin Hamad al-Harthi wrote.
“Our minds cannot comprehend his absence,” another Twitter user who gave her name as Sheikha said.
Source: aljazeera.com
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