The guest list to his funeral alone will be a tribute to a rare statesman in a troubled region
HIS FUNERAL is likely to be a scene unimaginable almost anywhere else. Among the foreign dignitaries who will mourn Sultan Qaboos of Oman, whose death was announced on January 10th, will be those from America and Iran, longtime enemies that recently traded blows in Iraq. Also present will be leaders from Israel and Palestine, whose conflict dates back even further.
His health began to fail in 2014—colon cancer, it was said—and he spent long periods in Europe receiving medical treatment. The business of government ground to a halt. Still, he remained popular. In recent years, as oil revenues slumped, Oman struggled with a sluggish economy. There were protests in 2011, inspired by the Arab spring—but they demanded policy changes, not a new regime.
Unlike other Gulf states, which established themselves as solid Western allies, the sultan pursued an independent foreign policy. He kept close ties with Britain and in the 1990s was the first leader of a Gulf state to host a visiting Israeli prime minister. In 2018 he welcomed Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current leader. But he also reached out to Iran soon after the Islamic revolution in 1979.
But it also allowed tiny Oman to play an outsize role in world diplomacy. The nuclear deal signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers, so hated by the Saudis, was conceived in a seaside villa in Oman, where the sultan hosted Americans and Iranians for quiet diplomacy. President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, plunging the region into turmoil. Oman remained a mediator, a rare intermediary trusted by both sides.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Sultan Qaboos ushered in Oman renaissance, quiet diplomacySultan Qaboos bin Said, who died late on Friday, transformed Oman during his 49-...
Read more »
Oman names culture minister as successor to Sultan QaboosHaitham bin Tariq al Said, Oman's culture minister has been sworn in as the new royal ruler following the death of his cousin Sultan Qaboos.
Read more »
Oman Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said has died – state mediaOman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said, who ruled the country for nearly half a century, has died at the age of 79 with no known successor for his throne
Read more »
Sultan Qaboos ushered in Oman renaissance, quiet diplomacySultan Qaboos bin Said, who died late on Friday, transformed Oman during his 49-...
Read more »
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who modernized Oman, dies at 79DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Mideast's longest-ruling monarch who seized power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while...
Read more »
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who modernized Oman, dies at 79Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Mideast’s longest-ruling monarch who seized power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while carefully balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the U.S., has died
Read more »