Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, 1940–2020, sultan of Oman (1970–2020). The only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur Al-Said, he served a year in the British army after graduating from Sandhurst. Upon his return (1965) to Oman he was a virtual prisoner and excluded from the government until he overthrew his father (1970), in a bloodless coup aided by the British. An absolute monarch, he used oil revenues to modernize the country, and abolished slavery and encouraged private enterprise. Oman joined the Arab League and the United Nations, and helped found the Gulf Cooperation Council, while also pursuing a policy of relative neutrality in the Middle East. He was succeeded by Haitham bin Tariq Al-Said.
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