Visit of Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman to UK, 3 July - 14 September 1973

This file concerns the visit of the Sultan of Oman Qaboos Bin Saeed Al Said to the United Kingdom between 6 September 1973 and 14 September 1973, during the Sultan’s extended visit to Europe. It contains correspondence concerning:

• The arrangement of official appointments for Sultan Qaboos’ visit
• Arrangements for and the record of the meeting between Prime Minister Edward Heath and Sultan Qaboos, detailing discussion concerning: Oman’s attendance at the Non-Aligned Movement Conference in Algiers; the security situation in Oman and Dhofar, and the question of British military intervention; the Sultan’s relationship with Iran; and rumours alleging King Hussein Bin Talal of Jordan to have ordered the assassination of President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia
• The briefs and record of the meeting between Sultan Qaboos and the Secretary of State for Defence Lord Carrington [Peter Carington], during which Lord Carrington expressed his misgivings concerning funding an extensive air defence system in Oman; and an attached report concerning the findings a military mission to Oman undertaken to assess the need for an air defence system
• A character profile of Sultan Qaboos
• The question of undertaking RAF bombing against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf (PFLOAG)
• The record of the conversation between the Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Sultan Qaboos, concerning the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen); the air defence scheme; the Sultan’s relations with UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and the Sultan’s concerns about the Iraqi Embassy in Abu Dhabi; Iranian assistance; the Arab League; and the Non-Aligned Conference
• An article in the Daily Telegraph concerning the visit
• Conversations between the Sultan and Minister of State H J Amery, and the Sultan and HM Ambassador to Oman D F Hawley
• Briefing notes concerning the situation in Oman, including the principles of HMG’s military assistance to Oman, the involvement of other countries in Oman and the question of defence sales