Internal political situation: Muscat

This file relates to the internal political situation in Muscat and Oman. It contains correspondence concerning:

• Incidents and tribal disturbances in Oman. It includes: a disturbance among the Kathar tribe; a list of people arrested in Nizwa and sent to Fort Jalali in Muscat; the firing on a lorry near Finja; a quarrel between factions of the Bani Bu Ali tribe; and the complaint of the Sheikh of the Al Bu Shamis Mohammad Bin Sulaiman that the Sultan doesn’t pay him enough
• The activity of a Saudi and the Arabia American Oil Company (ARAMCO) party in the area of Umm Al Samim, and the Saudi efforts to disturb the tribes of the Aden Protectorate
• The thoughts of Ahmad Darwish on Oman, and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur’s efforts to collect zakat from the interior
• The travel and whereabouts of various members of the Sultan’s extended family and persons of interest. This includes: Sheikh Mohammad Bin Nasir Bin Rashid of the Bani Ghafir, Sheikh Saleh Bin Isa Al Harithi, and the family of the Sultan’s great-uncle Mohammad Bin Turki Bin Saeed
• Reports in the Voice of the Arabs in Cairo on British actions in Oman; the question of the provenance of these reports; a report from Voice of the Arabs about the banning of an Indian film in Muscat showing a visit of the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru to the Soviet Union; and a libellous attack on F C L Chauncy
• Chauncy’s tour of the Batinah; and his reports on other trips around Muscat and Oman
• Subversive pamphlets circulating in Oman. It includes one on ‘Special Instructions for Guerrilla Warfare’, of which photographs of the original are included; and one titled ‘Our free Omani Brothers’
• A report on the strategic importance, history and politics of Muscat and Oman, with a note on the tribes present. It includes a list of the major tribes, their populations, notable Sheikhs and settlements and weapons; and a list of the places where the Sultan has a wali
• The receipt of photographs in Muscat of the exiled members of the Committee of National Union in Bahrain
• The preoccupation of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi with his relations with the Muscat Government.