Qaboos bin Said
Qaboos bin Said is the Sultan of Oman.[1]
Early Life
The Omani Ministry of Information gives this account of Sultan Qaboos' early life:
- Qaboos bin Said was born in Salalah in Dhofar on 18 November 1940, the only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur, the then ruler of the country. He spent the first 16 years of his life in Salalah, where he was educated, until his father sent him to a private educational establishment in England. At the age of 20, he entered Sandhurst Royal Military Academy as an officer cadet. After passing out of Sandhurst, he joined a British Infantry battalion on operational duty in Germany for one year, followed by a staff appointment with the British Army. After military service, Qaboos studied local government in England and went on a world tour before returning to Oman in 1964.[2]
British-backed coup
In the late 1960s, growing concern about the state of the Dhofar counter-insurgency campaign led Britain to seek a successor to Sultan Said. Qaboos was sounded out by Said's British intelligence chief, Major Malcolm Dennison. Another British intelligence officer, Captain Timothy Landon, secretly liased with Qaboos from July 1969.[3]
The coup took place on 23 July 1970. Said surrendered at his palace to a group of Omani soldiers and SAS men led by Captain Landon.[4]
Affiliations
External Resources
- Sultan fires ministers amid Oman unrest, Financial Times, 7 March 2011.
Notes
- ↑ Tribute to His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Ministry of Information, Sultanate of Oman, 7 March 2011.
- ↑ Tribute to His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Ministry of Information, Sultanate of Oman, 7 March 2011.
- ↑ MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, by Stephen Dorril, Touchstone, 2002, pp.730-731.
- ↑ MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, by Stephen Dorril, Touchstone, 2002, pp.732.
