Sultan Qaboos of Oman dies aged 79

[Mosby]

Last month he returned home after undergoing medical checks and treatment in Belgium. There were reports he was suffering from cancer.

Sultan Qaboos deposed his father in a bloodless coup with British support in 1970. Using its oil wealth, he then set Oman on a path to development.

He was unmarried and had no heir or designated successor.

Sultan Qaboos died on Friday evening, state media reported early on Saturday.

Three days of national mourning have been declared.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-middle-east-50902476?

Link to tweet

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. The family has agreed on his cousin, the heritage and culture minister

Reports early on Saturday said his cousin, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, was being sworn in as the new sultan, ending decades of speculation over who would succeed the popular ruler.
...
Qaboos had no children and, following protocol, had not publicly appointed a successor. A 1996 statute says the ruling family must choose a successor or the name would come from a sealed envelope left by Qaboos. The royal family was hurriedly convened over Friday night to discuss the succession, reports said.
...
Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, 65, has been heritage and culture minister since the mid-1990s. He was previously undersecretary of the ministry of foreign affairs for political affairs and also the first head of Oman’s football federation in the early 1980s.

His appointment comes as something of a surprise to Omanis, who widely assumed that the name of 65-year-old deputy prime minister for international relations and co-operation, Asad bin Tariq al-Said, was in the sultan’s envelope.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/11/sultan-of-oman-dies-state-media-announces