Qaboos bin Said Al Said
Sultan of Oman
Reign	23 July 1970 – present
Predecessor	Said bin Taimur
Spouse	Sayyidah Nawwal bint Tariq
House	Al Said
Father	Said bin Taimur
Mother	Mazwon bint Ahmad
Born	(1940-11-18) 18 November 1940 (age 71) Salalah, Oman
Religion	Ibadi Islam

Qaboos bin Said Al Said (Arabic: قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد‎ Qābūs bin Saʿīd ʾĀl Saʿīd; born 18 November 1940^[1]) is the Sultan of Oman and its Dependencies. He rose to power after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur, in a palace coup in 1970. He is the 14th-generation descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Sa'idi dynasty.^[2]

Early life[link]

Sultan Qaboos bin Sa‘id was born in Salalah in Dhofar on 18 November 1940. He is the only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur and princess Mazoon al-Mashani. He received his primary and secondary education at Salalah and Pune, India and was sent to a private educational establishment in England at age sixteen.^[3] At 20 he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After graduating from Sandhurst, he joined the British Army and was posted to the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), serving in Germany for one year. He also held a staff appointment with the British Army.

After his military service, Sultan Qaboos studied local government subjects in England and, after a world tour, returned home to Salalah where he studied Islam and the history of his country. Sultan Qaboos ibn Sa‘id is a Muslim of the Ibadi school of jurisprudence, which has traditionally ruled Oman.^[4] A religious liberal, he has financed the construction or maintenance of a number of mosques, notably the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, as well as the holy places of other religions.

In 1976 Qaboos bin Said married his cousin, Kamila, née Sayyidah Nawwal bint Tariq (born 1951), daughter of HH Sayyid Tariq ibn Taymur.^[5] However, the marriage soon ended in divorce and he has never remarried or had any children.^[6]

Qaboos bin Said is an avid fan and promoter of classical music. His 120-member orchestra has a high reputation in the Middle East. The orchestra consists entirely of young Omanis who, since 1986, audition as children and grow up as members of the symphonic ensemble. They play locally and travel abroad with the sultan.^[7] Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin was commissioned to compose a work entitled Symphonic Impressions of Oman^[8] and the Sultan is particularly enthusiastic about the pipe organ.^[9]

The Sultan's birthday, 18 November, is celebrated as Oman's national holiday. The first day of his reign, 23 July, is celebrated as Renaissance Day.

Rise to power[link]

For six years prior to Said bin-Taymur's overthrow, Qaboos experienced virtual house-arrest in the Royal Palace of Salalah. In July 1970, soldiers supporting Qaboos clashed with forces loyal to Said bin-Taymur and deposed him. Qaboos maintains that his father abdicated the throne.^[7] The British government helped to consolidate Qaboos' power.

Qaboos acceded to the throne on 23 July 1970 after deposing his father in a palace coup with the aim of ending the country's isolation and using its oil revenue for modernization and development,^[10] moving to Muscat. There he declared that the country would no longer be known as Muscat and Oman, but would change its name to "the Sultanate of Oman" in order to better reflect its political unity.

The first pressing problem that Qaboos bin Said faced as Sultan was an armed communist insurgency from South Yemen, the Dhofar Rebellion (1965–1975). The Sultanate eventually defeated the incursion with help from the Shah of Iran, Jordanian troops sent from his friend King Hussein of Jordan, British Special Forces, and the Royal Air Force.

Reign as Sultan[link]

Styles of The Sultan of Oman
Reference style	His Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Sire

Sultan Qaboos meets with United States Vice President Dick Cheney during his visit to the Middle East in 2002.

The political system which Qaboos established is that of an absolute monarchy. Unlike the situation in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Qaboos' decisions are not subject to modification by other members of Oman's royal family. Government decisions are said to be made through a process of decision-making by "consensus" with provincial, local and tribal representatives, though critics allege that Qaboos exercises de facto control of this process.^{[citation needed]} Qaboos also regularly engages in tours of his realm, in which any citizen with a grievance or request is allowed to appeal to the Sultan in person.^[11]

More recently, Qaboos has allowed parliamentary elections (in which women have voted and stood as candidates) and pledged greater openness and participation in government. The parliament enjoys legislative and oversight powers.^[12] In 1979 Oman was the only Arab state to recognize Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's peace agreement with Israel.^[13]

Qaboos' supporters point to his relative success in governing the country. By Gulf standards, Oman boasts good public order,^[14] middling prosperity,^[15] and a relatively permissive society.^[16] Since he acceded to the throne, Oman has broadened international relations, allowed newspapers, established high schools, built highways, opened hotels and shopping malls and spends a substantial portion of its dwindling oil revenues on health care and education.^[7]

In September 1995, he was involved in a car accident in Salalah just out side his palace, which claimed the life of one of his most prominent and influential ministers and his right hand man, Qais Bin Abdul Munaim Al Zawawi.

In October 1998, Qaboos bin Said was presented with the International Peace Award by the National Council on US-Arab Relations.^[17] He also forges and maintains good relations with other Arab states and partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).^[18]

Foreign policy[link]

Qaboos officially keeps Oman neutral, having contacts and normal relations with Iran while being an ally of western states like Britain and America. In talks with American officials released by wikileaks, Qaboos dodged requests by the Americans for Oman to invest in Iraq and Afghanistan, switching to other topics. Qaboos was against Americans withdrawing quickly from Iraq.

Oman has more normal relations with Iran than the other Gulf Arab states, careful to appear neutral and maintain a balance between the West and Iran.^[19]

Views on Ideology[link]

Qaboos criticized the Arab Nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in private discussions with American officials which were released by Wikileaks. He claimed Nasser deliberately used inflammatory speeches and rhetoric to make his people stupid, and accused Nasser of having "set the region back", holding a position of "anti-everything". Qaboos concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood obtained support from the uneducated people.^[20]

Palaces[link]

Super yachts[link]

Succession[link]

Unlike the heads of other Gulf Arab states, Qaboos bin Sa‘id has not publicly named an heir. Article 6 of the constitution actually provides that the Ruling Family Council chooses the successor after the throne becomes vacant, and that the Sultan's preference, to be expressed in an official letter (which Qaboos says has already been sealed and delivered to the defence minister), is only resorted to in the event of lack of familial consensus.

Qaboos bin Sa‘id has no children and has three sisters; there are other male members of the Omani Royal Family including several paternal uncles and their families. Using primogeniture the successor to Qaboos would appear to be the children of his late uncle, His Royal Highness Sayyid Tariq bin Taimur Al Said, the former, first and only Prime Minister in Oman's history.^[26]

Military ranks[link]

Qaboos holds the following ranks:^[27]

• Field Marshal, Royal Army of Oman
• Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy of Oman
• Marshal of the Royal Air Force of Oman
• Supreme Commander, Royal Oman Police
• Honorary General, British Army

Foreign honours[link]

•  Austria: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (31 March 2001)^[28]
•  Bahrain: Order of Al Khalifa, 1st Class^[28]
•  Brunei: Royal Family Order of the Crown of Brunei (15 December 1984)^[28]
•  Egypt: Grand Collar of the Order of the Nile (1976)^[28]
•  France: Legion of Honour (31 May 1989)^[28]
•  Germany: Grand Cross special class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany^[28]
•  India: Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding (2004) (Award yet to be presented)^[29]
•  Indonesia: Order of the Star, 1st Class or Adipurna^[28]
•  Iran: Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlavi (3 March 1974)^[28]
•  Italy: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (22 April 1974)^[28]
•  Japan: Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum^[28]
•  Jordan: Collar of the Order of Hussein ibn Ali^[28]
•  Kuwait: Order of Mubarak the Great (28 December 2009)^[28]
•  Lebanon: Collar of the Order of Merit^[28]
•  Malaysia: Order of the State Crown of Malaysia
•  Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2012)
•  Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, 1st Class^[28]
•  Qatar: Collar of the Order of the Independence^[28]
•  Saudi Arabia: The Badr Chain^[28]
•  Saudi Arabia: Collar of the Order of Abdulaziz al Saud (23 December 2006)^[28]
•  Singapore: Order of Temasek, 1st Class (12/3/2009)^[28]
•  Spain: Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (18 December 1985)^[28]
•  Syria: Collar of the Order of Omayyad^[28]
•  Tunisia: Collar of the Order of Independence^[28]
•  UAE: Collar of the Order of Etihad^[28]
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (18 March 1982)^[28]
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (8/7/1976)^[28]
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (28 February 1979)^[28]
•  United Kingdom: Royal Victorian Chain (27 November 2010)^[28]
•  United Kingdom: Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John (8/10/1976)^[28]
•  United Kingdom: Bailiff Grand Cross of the Venerable Order of Saint John (19 March 1984)^[28]

See also[link]

• Oman
• Sultan of Oman
• List of national leaders

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Qaboos bin Said al Said

• Official account of the Sultan's reign
• Oman Net
• Oman-Qaboos

v t e Sultans of Oman since 1749 Abu Hilah Ahmad Said I Hamad Sultan Salim I / Said II Said II Thuwaini Salim II Azzan Turki Faisal Taimur Said III Qaboos