Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said Passes Away
Posted on 01/12/2020
Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said died on January 10, 2020 from an illness that was never publicly disclosed or confirmed. Sultan Qaboos was laid to rest at the Royal Cemetery in Ghala in a simple ceremony.
Sultan Qaboos was the only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur of Muscat and Oman and was born on November 18, 1940. He is the fourteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said. Sultan Qaboos did not have any children.
Qaboos named Haitham bin Tariq Al Said his heir in a letter opened following his death. According to the Constitution of Oman, the royal family of Oman shall, within three days of the throne falling vacant, determine the successor. If the royal family does not agree on a name, the person chosen by Sultan Qaboos in a letter addressed to the royal family will be the successor. Some sources say the letter of the successor is held in two remote places.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, Oman’s culture minister, was sworn in as Oman’s ruler after the death of his cousin, Sultan Qaboos.
Sultan Qaboos overthrew his father in 1970 in a coup d’état, with British support. He renamed the country the Sultanate of Oman and ruled from July 23, 1970.
