Page 338 - They Also Served

On 23rd July 1970, with the backing of British officers on secondment in the country, Qaboos orchestrated a virtually bloodless coup d’état. Indeed, one of the few casualties was the old sultan, who shot himself in the foot while trying to resist arrest. He was exiled to London, where he lived his last days in a suite at the Dorchester Hotel. Sultan Qaboos immediately set about revitalising the country, aided by oil revenue which was, by now, substantial. He quelled the rebellion and galvanised the economy, and, by 1980, Oman had 28 hospitals, 363 schools and 12,000 kilometres of paved roads. At the time, the coup was described as ‘a local affair’, although the release of cabinet papers in 2010 revealed that Prime Minister Edward Heath approved the involvement of British military personnel.
Having made great strides to modernise his country, Sultan Qaboos carved a niche as an ‘honest broker’ in Middle East politics. His mediation between Iran and the USA directly led to the 2013 International Nuclear Pact (which the US withdrew from in 2018). He also held peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and, later, with Benjamin Netanyahu.
A patron of the arts, Sultan Qaboos created the state orchestra as well as promoting local culture and folk music. His country has retained close ties with Britain – the sultan was both a frequent visitor to and benefactor of Sandhurst. The Oman Hall and Qaboos Pavilion were both funded by grants, and the sultan was the Sovereign’s representative at the April 1983 commissioning parade. During his address, he said: ‘It was here that I learned that discipline is not just something that one imposes on others; it is something that one has, above all, to apply to oneself if one is to be a worthy leader’. Sultan Qaboos died on 10th January 2020 and was succeeded by his cousin.
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