SECRET MEMORANDUM HOW OMAN IS GOVERNED1. "From the moment he installed himself on the .....throne it was obvious that he intended to enjoy thebusiness of running a country. He began byredecorating the reception rooms in his palace at a costof ..... $ 2 million. Next he amused himself with the Army, dressing the men up in uniforms he designed him self ..... he liked drilling them himself on a specialparade ground ..... The ..... palace soon became themost hospitable place in the world. Everyone waswelcome, everyone that is, that was de famille or aforeigner, thus a suitable audience for his displays ofmunificence". "Engulfed by a sudden plague ofspeculators who were only too avid to promote any schemehe could think of ..... he hardly had a chance. Hemight just have been able to hold his own through thefilter of Government administration, but characteristically preferred personal deals to impersonal market . negotiations." These words from Raymond Flower's "Napoleon to Nassert described the Khedive Said (1854 to 1861). They might, however, almost have been writtenabout Sultan Qaboos bin Said. SECRET
