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| Sultan Qābūs ibn Saˤīd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Saˤīdī GCB GCMG GCVO (Arabic: السلطان قابوس بن سعيد بن تيمور آلبوسعيدي, born November 18, 1940(1940-11-18) in Salalah) in Dhofar is the current Sultan of Oman. He rose to power after overthrowing his father, Saˤīd ibn Taymūr, in 1970. He is the 14th descendant of the Āl Bū Saˤīdī dynasty.[1] |
| Early life |
| Sultan Qābūs ibn Saˤīd
was born in
Salalah in
Dhofar on
18 November
1940. He is the
only son of Sultan Qābūs ibn Saˤīd Taymūr and is of the 8th
generation of the Āl Bū Saˤīdī dynasty. He received his primary and
secondary education in Salalah and at
Pune,
India and attended
a private educational establishment in
England from the
age of sixteen. At 20 he entered the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
After graduating from Sandhurst, he joined a
British Infantry
regiment,
The Cameronians,
and served in the 4th Battalion in
Germany for one
year. He also held a staff appointment with the British Army. After his military service, Sultan Qābūs 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. |
| Rise to power |
| For six years prior to
Saˤīd ibn Taymūr's overthrow, Qaboos experienced virtual house arrest in
the royal palace of Salalah. In July 1970, soldiers supporting Qābūs
clashed with forces loyal to Saˤīd ibn Taymūr, and deposed him.[2]
Qābūs maintains that his father abdicated the throne.[3]
The British government helped to consolidate Qābūs' power. Qābūs acceded to the throne on 1970-07-23, 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 Qābūs ibn Saˤīd 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 British special forces and the Royal Air Force. |
| Reign as Sultan |
| The political system which Qābūs established
is that of an
absolute monarchy. Unlike the situation in neighboring
Saudi Arabia, Qābūs' decisions are not subject to modification by
other members of Oman's
sultanic family. Government decisions are said to be made through a
process of decision-making by "consensus"
with federal, provincial, local and tribal representatives, though critics
allege that Qābūs exercises
de facto
control of this process.[citation
needed] Qābūs ibn Saˤīd also regularly engages in
tours of his realm, in which any citizen with a grievance or request is
(at least in theory) allowed to appeal to the sultan in person. Critics
claim these meetings to be scripted as well.[citation
needed] More recently, Qābūs has allowed parliamentary elections (in which women have voted and stood as candidates) and pledged greater openness and participation in government. As yet, however, this parliament lacks substantial political power. Qābūs' supporters point to his relative success in governing the country. By Persian Gulf standards, Oman boasts good public order (it is basically a safe country, even for foreigners), middling prosperity (given its level of oil revenues) and a relatively permissive society.[citation needed] 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.[3] Full democracy, they say, might threaten these accomplishments.[citation needed] Unlike the heads of other Persian Gulf Arab states, Qābūs ibn Saˤīd 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 Qābūs maintains has already been sealed and delivered to the defence minister), is only resorted to in the event of lack of familial consensus. Critics fear, however, that the resulting uncertainty could inspire a power struggle among members of the dynasty and/or the military. A power vacuum could thus coincide with the expected depletion of Oman's oil supplies, threatening the nation's continued peace and prosperity. In 1998, Qābūs ibn Saˤīd was presented with the International Peace Award by the National Council on US-Arab Relations[citation needed]. He also forges and maintains good relations with other Arab States and partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Sultan's birthday, 18 November, is celebrated as Oman's national holiday. |
| Personal |
| Sultan Qābūs ibn Saˤīd 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, as well as the holy places of other religions. In 1976 Qābūs ibn Saˤīd married his cousin, Kamila, née Sayyidah Nawwal bint Tariq (born 1951), daughter of HH Sayyid Tariq ibn Taymūr,[5] but the marriage soon ended in divorce. He has no children. Within Oman, the rumor that he is gay may have diminished respect for him to an unknown degree, both as an observant Muslim and as a monarch perceived as not taking adequate measures to groom a dynastic successor.[6] Qābūs ibn Saˤīd is an avid fan and promoter of classical music. His 120-member orchestra has a high reputation in the Middle East. Although initially trained by British professionals (who were paid much more than Omanis, whence most were recruited), 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 (although not to Salafi Saudi Arabia, because the orchestra mixes male and female musicians).[3] Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin was commissioned to compose a work entitled Symphonic Impressions of Oman[7] and is particularly enthusiastic about the pipe organ.[8] Such cultural innovations by the sultan have, however, been criticised as "just wasted money" because, as an Omani professional observed in 2001, "music diverts us from being serious about religion."[3] |
| Palaces |
He has the following palaces in Oman:
|
| Automobiles |
He is seen driving around the country with
the following cars:
In addition he has a personal motor show room which holds many Aston Martins, Ferraris, Rolls Royces and Bugatti. |
| Yachts |
Sultan Qaboos possesses a number of luxury
yachts. As of 2007, his yachts include:
|
| Succession |
| The line of succession is unclear in Oman, where there is a history of contested successions and coups d'état. Sultan Qābūs ibn Saˤīd deposed his own father. His father had replaced his grandfather after what may have been a forced abdication. Qābūs ibn Saˤīd has no children and has three sisters. There are other male membes of the Omani royal family such as several paternal uncles who are still alive and their families. Using primogeniture the successor to Qābūs would appear to be the children of his late uncle, His Royal Highness Prince Tariq bin Taimur Al-Said, The Former, First and only Prime Minister in Oman's history. [2]. Nevertheless, because no successor has been named the transfer of royal power following the end of Qābūs's reign is likely to be fractious. |
| Honours |
Qaboos holds the following ranks:[9]
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| See also |
| List of national leaders |
| References |
|
| External links |
