BBC documentary

This file relates to a planned interview with the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur, and accompanying documentary on the Sultanate by the BBC. It contains correspondence concerning:

• Question of the involvement of Shell in the production of the documentary
• Documentary’s scope including the history of the Sultanate, its present state, and the hopes of the Sultan for its future development
• Question of a possible radio broadcast on the Sultan’s development plans on BBC Arabic and Sawt Al Sahil
• Question of censorship of the programme
• Discussions over the travel of various BBC correspondents from Aden and the Sultan’s reluctance to agree to an interview with them
• Decision of the Sultan not to broadcast a programme, and instead to issue a written statement on his hopes for future development