‘Forever in our hearts’: Remembering the legacy of late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos

MUSCAT: January 10 mark the fifth anniversary of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said’s death.
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos passed away on Friday, January 10, 2020. The passing of the longest serving ruler in the Arab world marked the end of an era.
For the Omani people and the residents he was a father figure. For many leaders in the region and across the globe, he was an elderly statesman who they looked up to.

“In a region rife with sectarianism, political divides and foreign interference, the soft-spoken, diminutive Sultan Qaboos championed a foreign policy of independence and nonalignment. He became a rare leader who maintained ties with a wide range of powers,” wrote Ben Hubbard in New York Times.
In his historic Royal speech, delivered on February 23, 2020, His Majesty Sultan Haitham paid glowing tributes to Sultan Qaboos, in which he said: “The past five decades have witnessed a great transformation in building a modern state, establishing advanced infrastructure, all over the country, under the leadership of the architect of modern Oman, the Late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and with the efforts of the loyal people of Oman. We would like to voice our appreciation for their endeavours to promote Oman’s prosperity and stature. We will proceed along the path of development and we will continue the blessed renaissance march as the late Sultan wished it to be. Conscious of the immense responsibility, we reaffirm that Oman will always remain our supreme goal, in all actions and pursuits.”