Muscat and Oman: internal political situation

This file contains correspondence relating to:

• The possibility of extracting Sayyed Qaboos Bin Saeed Al Saeed from Salalah without the knowledge of the Sultan's Armed Forces and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur
• The limits of Sultan Saeed's rule and the consideration of a palace coup by Sayyed Qaboos
• A featured item on Independent Television [ITV] on rumours of a palace coup in Oman, broadcast on 6 July 1970
• The plans for a total communications blackout until the royal family have elected Qaboos
• The plans to prevent Qaboos from being handed over to the Sultan if the coup is unsuccessful
• The instructions by Colonel Hugh Oldman to the Commander of the Sultan's Armed Forces to facilitate the constitutional succession of Qaboos if the coup is successful, and to assist Qaboos in recovering Salalah and deposing Sultan Saeed if the coup is unsuccessful
• A letter by the Consul General in Muscat D G Crawford to M S Weir in Bahrain about the procedure for recognising Sayyed Qaboos as Sultan if the coup against the Sultan is successful
• A letter from Sultan Qaboos to the Consul General announcing the abdication of his father and the confirmation of his own succession as Sultan of Muscat and Oman by the ruling Al Saeed.