Epilogue: 20th Anniversary, November 1990 A million light bulbs fluttered like nocturnal butterflies. A million explo­ sions turnednight into pyrotechnicalday. Bands thumpedout their instruc­ tions to parades of soldiers and children. Speeches were made and banquets consumed. Transformations took place; bare rock becamea roadside vision of livingnature, an area of despondentmangroves in Qunn becamea public garden. Oman knows how to put on a celebration and this was celebrating two decades of Oman's renaissance. There were other more tangible expressions of public rejoicing. PDO built a technical library in the shape of its fossil logo and provided the first 10 000 volumes for it. The Sultan directed that 50 per cent of farmers' and fishennens' outstanding loans with the Oman AgriculturalBank should be cancelled. The Sultan Qaboos rose, a beautiful rich red floribunda specially developed in Holland under the auspices of the World Federation of Rose Societies, was formally presented to him.' Concerns about the future were banished for a few days of thanksgiving and celebration;not that concernsabout the futureare as high on the normal Omaniagendaas on that of non-Omanicommentators.This particularset of cclebrations.?however, held in November 1990,neatly symbolisedaspects of Omani policy and character. They took place in the midst of the Gulf crisis at a time that many analysts had predicted as the most probable for an outbreak of actual war. Qaboos took the line early on that, in the interests of normality, he would not be deflectedfrom what had been planned. Other Gulf states had cancelled their National Day celebrations in the belief that celebrations were out of order at a time when the political future of the Gulf seemed dangerously threatened and so much at risk. As so often, Oman took the long view of consistency rather than submit to arguments of short-termexpediency.There were many who doubtedthe wisdomof the decision, but they were silencedor remained silent. In the event everything went like clockwork. The renaissance was properly observed. Renaissancemay soundsomewhatpretentiousas a descriptionof Oman's last 20 years but the justification for it is visible allover the country. The renaissance has, in large part, now been completed. The next 20 years will be the years of consolidation or, perhaps, expansion, They 162 Epilogu e: 20th Anniversary, November 1990 163 may be less exciting year on year but there will be 110 lack of things to achieve. In some respects visitors find Oman almost too good to be true. Compared to the rest of the Gulf it is better ordered, more polite, cleaner, more welcoming, more scenically attractive. Compared to the rest of the Middle East it is quiet, unexcitable, a bit unexciting, perhaps, but without that insistent stridency that can be so exhausting. It may be a bit dull for some, but for others it is an oasis of relaxation where, within defined limits, there is little of the hassle tnat fills so much of the world. I have tried to show that this appearance of calm purpose and achieve­ ment is 110 less at risk than anywhere else, but that the sense of purpose and desire for achievement has been a continuous refrain. Oman has been lucky in many respects - geography, oil price, expatriates, external political developments - but all this could have been thrown away if different people had been managing the country and if there had been a managing director in charge other than Sultan Qaboos. Appendix: Press Release, 26 July 1970 Press release from the authorities of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman (26 July 1970): We have received the following statement from Sayid Qabus bin Said, Sultan of Muscat and Oman , to all people of his country. Fellow countrymen. 1speak to you as Sultan of Muscat and Oman having succeeded my father on the 24th of July 1970, 19 of Jamada al Uwla 1390. I have watched with growing dismay and increasing anger the inability of my father to use the new found wealth of this country for the needs of its people. That is why I have taken control. My family and my armed forces have pledged their loyalty to me. The ex Sultan has left the Sultanate, I promise you all that my immediate task will be to set up as quickly as possible a forceful and modem govermneut whose first aim must be to remove unnecessary restrictions under which you, my people, now suffer, and to produce as rapidly as possible a happier and more secure future for all of you. I ask the help of each one of you in this task. In days gone by our country was great and powerful, and with God's help , if we work together to recreate our nation we shall once again take our rightful place in the Arab world. I am taking the necessary constitutional steps to receive recog­ nition from foreign countries with whom we have relations, and I look forward to the early establishment of friendly cooperation with all nations, notably with our neighbours, and to illl era of active consultation with them on the future of the region. My friends, I urge you all to continue with your normal lives, know ing that I will be coming to Muscat within a very short period, and that my major concern will be to tell you, Oh my people, what I and my new government plan to do to achieve our common aim. My friends, my brothers, yesterday was dark, but with God's help, tomorrow will dawn bright for Muscat and Oman and all its people. May God's blessing be upon us and on our endeavours. 164 Notes Preface I. The dynasty has in the past usually been known as Al Bu Said, but under Sultan Qaboos it has changed to Al Said. 2. Ian Skeet, Muscat and Oman: The end of an Era ( Faber & Faber, 1974); reissued in paperbac k as Oman before 1970: The end of an Era ( Faber & Faber, 1985). 3. Under the 30-year rule British Government documents, from Foreign Office or other sources, will only be available in 2000 even for the year 1970. US documents are, in theory, more readily obtainable under the Freedom of Information Act, but there is no guarantee that they will be forthcoming and they may be heavily edited when produced. 4. I have also been fortun ate to have had access to private papers which have provided a valuable record of some parts of the story. Part One: Scenes - Oman 1990 I. The architect was Fitzroy Robinson and Partners who have cleverly used modemised forms of traditional design and decoration throughout the building. 2. In June 1990 the three services were given the Royal Title. Accord­ ingly, what had been SAF (Sultan's Armed Forces) became the Royal Army of Oman ( RAO), the Sultan of Oman' s Navy (SON) became the Royal Navy of Oman ( RNO) and the Sultan of Oman' s Air Force (SOAF) became the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO). SAF remains a generic title for the Armed Forces as a whole. I shall use the old-style SAF and SOAF titles in cases in which they are more relevant to the period being described. 3. From 1806 'effectively ', records John Wilkinson in The Imamate Tradition of Oman (Cambridge University Press, 1987), chart on page 14. It can be argued that 1807 is a more correct date. 4. Under RD 60179 published in the Official Gazette of 19 November 1979. The development contract, in practice controlled directly by the Diwan, was given to Tetra Tech International, a subsidiary of Honeywell. Tetra Tech also provided technic al advice to the Ministry of Oil and Minerals for a time (see New York Times, 25/26 March, 1985, articles written by Jeff Gerth and Judith Miller). 5. These facilities were in place when I was there in 1990. 165 166 Notes to pp. 17-39 6. The main contractor was George Wimpey International and the archi­ tect was the Percy Thomas Partnership. 7. The contractor was Cementation International and the architects and planners were YRM International. 8. Sultan Qaboos has always taken a particular personal interest in the university project. A nice example was his insistence that the red sandstone used in the construction of the main buildings should be taken from the quarries used by Lutyens for imperial New Delhi. 9. For this section see Article by Ralph Daly 'And what, said the Sult an, shall we do about the ory x?' read to 4th World Conferenc e on Breedin g Endangered Species, Holland, ]984, and Mark Stanley Price, Animal Re-introductions: the Arabian Oryx in Oman (Cambridge University Press, ]989) . Part Two: Behind the Scenes: The Creation of Oman, 1970-90 First Thiflgs First, 1970-75 l , For a fuller discussion of all these matters see Skeet, Muscat and Oman. 2. He first spent a week or two in hospital recovering from wounds he received during the coup. 3. See Declassified Documents 1984, Vol. X, no. 2, item 000781 dated 19 May]975. See also note 36 below. 4. For details of developments in South Arabia see Fred Halliday, Arabia without Sultans ( Penguin Books, ]974), an account which is written from a strong 'revolutionary' and anti-imperialist point of view. The DLF was formed in ]962 but only became militarily active in ]965. 5. South Yemen gained its indep endence on 30 November ]967 and changed its name to People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) on 30 November]970. 6. In a move that may have been guileful or unintentional, but certainly proved confusing, PFLOAG merged in ]97] with NDFLOAG to be reconstituted yet again as PFLOAG which now stood for Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf.