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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Interviews reveal many facets of HM Sultan Qaboos

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Asim al Shedi -


Entering the late Sultan Qaboos’ court is by itself an unimaginable honour to the journalist. Over the course of five decades several journalists earned such an honour. They interviewed the late Sultan and listened to his insightful views on many issues that preoccupied Omani citizens and the wider Arab world. They came out with the visionary thoughts of the late Sultan which inspired the political circles and are still under discussion up to the present day.


The late sultan was not fond of being personally under the media focus, however he accorded much attention to the media since the outset of the renaissance being fully aware of its role in reflecting the renaissance achievements to citizens and the outer world.


Addressing the nation on the second National Day anniversary the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos said: “We appreciate the importance of media and the role it plays in the lives of nations. We are aware that the media is the mirror that reflects what is going on inside the country and this mirror should be clear, pure and sincere’’.


Speaking to Oman TV in 1975 about the media message both inside and outside the Sultanate, the late sultan said: “There should be true news to convey to the world our great achievements we have made in our beloved country and the great aspirations of our people. We need to know ourselves and the world needs to know as we are’’.


Despite being away from media, the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos gave more than 60 interviews to local, Arab and international newspapers. Within few days of his arrival in Muscat from Salalah, the late sultan gave an interview to the Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah newspaper. The late His Majesty gave his last interview to Fox News channel in January 2012.


The late sultan’s media interviews carried lots of thoughts and hopes for the dear nation and its future. The hopes and future of the nation have been a major theme in almost all interviews of the late sultan.


Astonishingly, while tracking the late sultan’s interviews I came across an interview that was made by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik with the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. Published in Al Shabiba magazine which was mainly concerned with youth and sports topics, that interview did not delve into political matters, however it is worth rereading. The late Sultan explained his point of view regarding Omani youths urging them to adhere to the Omani inherited values advising them to think well before every step they are taking.


The late sultan gave details about his hobbies when asked by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik during the interview.


Among the journalists who made the most interviews with the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos were the Lebanese journalist Riad Najib al Rais and Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed al Jarallah.


Al Rais’ interviews with the late sultan were published in the Lebanese An-Nahar newspaper and Al-Mustaqbal magazine which were published in Paris while Al Jarallah’s interviews with the late sultan were published in the Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah newspaper. Al Jarallah may be the most accurate journalist who ever interviewed the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos and he continued to interview the late sultan until 2008.


There were hardly any sound infrastructures to facilitate a journalist’s mission. There was no airport at the time and only military aircraft could land in Muscat. No hotels to accommodate journalists nor there were phone land lines or fax to send out reports. Besides, a visiting correspondent had to experience a great deal of hardship travelling from one place to another owing to lack of vehicles. However, a number of audacious correspondents managed to make their way to Muscat challenging hardships to meet the late sultan.


Al Jarallah of Al-Seyassah newspaper was the first journalist to arrive in Muscat. He didn’t mention details about his journey to Muscat or how he managed to meet His Majesty. His interview with the late sultan was brief yet in-depth, but the young journalist was acclaimed for being the first journalist to interview the newly enthroned sultan.


It was on August 8, 1970 just 8 days after His Majesty’s arrival from Salalah that Al Jarallah had his first interview with the late sultan. He was not the only journalist in that historic encounter with the late sultan, with him was a correspondent from British Observer newspaper who came specially to interview the late sultan.


That interview was published in Al-Seyassah on the following day on August 9, 1970 after it was transmitted to the newspaper over the phone. The interview appeared as a main story on the front page with seven related headlines such as ‘Qaboos talks to Al Seyassah’ with a subheading reads as ‘the first Arab newspaper to knock on Oman and Muscat doors’. Other headlines read as ‘A new sultan for a reclusive country tries to open closed doors of modernization’ or ‘We have a dire need for education, Qaboos says’ or ‘We won’t confront the revolutionaries with force, we will address the causes for which they took up arms’.


When the late sultan was asked about the constitutional government he said: “That requires more suitable public culture and conducive national atmosphere, however the government will lay down the foundations for that system and we are focusing on education in order to create a national climate that helps establishing a successful constitutional government’’.


The late sultan’s second interview was made by Riad Najib and published in An-Nahar daily in August 1970.


Najib prelude the interview by describing his observations about the mood in Oman: “I have never seen such happiness like that I saw in Muscat last week’’.


Asked during the interview about his vision for the future of Oman, the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos said: “Oman should, within ten years, become a modern state at the same level with the modern Arab countries and only at that point we can say that we have reached the starting point. Keeping in pace with the civilisation of the twentieth century is not an easy process. My dream is to achieve for Oman what it has missed over the past years, to take its place among the developed nations’’.


In an interview published in the Paris-based Al-Mustaqbal newspaper in 1979, the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos said: “We believe that a strong Iran is better for its neighbours and the region than a weak Iran. Dealing with a strong regime is like dealing with ‘clarity’ and the turbulence in Iran will overshadow the security situation in all countries of the Arabian Peninsula’’.In the same interview the late sultan stated that: “Listen, I firmly believe that the sectarian situation in the Islamic world has nothing to do with the upheavals that are taking place in the region. Rather it is a big international game that is being prepared by the great countries and we are not part of that game’’.


In his penultimate interview with the late sultan at Hisn Al Shumoukh in 2006, Al Jarallah inquired about why the Sultanate has not seen upheavals over the past thirty-five years, the late His Majesty said: “Oman is a secured country and you, as a journalist, are quite aware of this. We have nothing to trouble our national security. All that I do is for the sake of my country and my people and I don’t surround myself by extraordinary security measures’’.


In the same interview the late sultan said: “I am entirely obsessed with the Omani affairs. History has recorded that Oman has selected a sultan with neutral tendencies and from that day the rule has been ‘for all and around all’ and we have no problems in this regard. We maintain the social prestige of everyone and treat all with respect. We listen to their demands and they listen to our visions and this exactly is the secret of the balance, to maintain the dignity of the people in the best way as it should, to give everyone their rights’’.


The late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos used to say in his interviews: “I don’t like compliment. If Allah loved someone he will be loved by the people. For me the true compliment is when I see good results of our deeds and this is the only compliment that I like. Nothing is for me, everything is for Oman’’.


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