INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al Said, has died aged 79, according to the country's state media.The sultan died on Friday evening
after "a wise and triumphant march rich with generosity that embraced Oman and extended to the Arab, Muslim and entire world and achieved a
balanced policy that the whole world respected", the state-run Oman News Agency said.His cause of death was not disclosed.There had been
concerns over his health in recent weeks and he had reportedly been in Belgium for treatment, but travelled back to Oman shortly before the
new year.Oman, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula and a key Western ally, has announced a three-day period of national
mourning.Sultan Qaboos was the longest serving leader in the Middle East, having ruled the country since 1970 after taking over the
leadership from his father in a peaceful coup.Image:Queen Elizabeth and Sultan Qaboos in 2010Born in Oman in 1940, he travelled to the UK in
1958 to attend Sandhurst and joined the British Army where he was posted to the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and served
in Germany for a year.He returned to Oman in 1966 and was placed under virtual house arrest by his ruling father, to separate him from
government affairs.Growing tired of his father's leadership and with a desire for change, he launched a coup against him in 1970, backed by
the UK and was thought to be planned by British security forces and prime minister Harold Wilson.The sultan's leadership is credited with
drastically improving living standards in Oman by reforming a nation that was home to only three schools and harsh laws banning electricity,
radios, eyeglasses and even umbrellas when he took power.He used oil revenues during his reign to build schools, roads and hospitals, as
well as encouraging the development of private enterprises.Image:Sultan Qaboos was said to be struggling with his healthHe also outlawed
slavery in the same year he came to power - once an important part of the Omani economy.But unemployment, which sparked demonstrations in
2011, remains high and the state has increasingly relied on external borrowing as oil prices have fallen.Sultan Qaboos had no children, and
had not publicly appointed a successor
However, he will have secretly recorded his choice in a sealed letter should the royal family disagree on the succession line.The royal
family will now have three days to appoint a successor, according to a statute from 1996.If they family fail to do so, a council of military
and security officials, supreme court chiefs and heads of two assemblies will put in power the person appointed by the sultan in his
letter.Analysts worry about royal family discord and a resurgence of tribal rivalries and political instability, now a new ruler has to be
