QABUS IBN SA'ID

also spelled Qaboos Bin Said born Nov. 18, 1940, Muscat and Oman sultan of Oman. Qabus was educated at Bury Saint Edmunds, Suffolk, Eng., and at Sandhurst, the Royal Military Academy, in Berkshire. He was called home in 1965 by his father, Sa'id ibn Taymur, who kept his son a prisoner for six years while maintaining his subjects in a state of medieval backwardness despite the country's growing oil revenues. In 1970 Qabus took over the palace in a coup with British support and exiled his father. He immediately undertook a range of ambitious modern projects, including the construction of roads, hospitals, schools, communications systems, and industrial and port facilities. He abrogated his father's moralistic laws and established a 17-member Cabinet and a system of municipal councils. Political power, however, remained concentrated in the royal family. Qabus' regime faced such problems as labour unrest, fiscal instability, a shortage of technocrats, and threats from Dhofar rebels. He did make considerable progress in ending Oman's isolation by joining the Arab League and the United Nations, aligning his country with the moderate Arab powers.