Oman: Haitham rehabilitates the last imam’s family

Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said has issued a decree returning nationality to Zaid and Mohannad Bin Al-Khattab, the grandchildren of the Imamate of Oman’s last elected imam, Ghalib Bin Ali Al-Hinai. Ghalib went into exile in Saudi Arabia in the late 1950s, following his failed rebellion against Sultan Qaboos’ father Sultan Said.Following advice from the UK, Qaboos tried to bring Imam Ghalib back to Oman on at least one occasion in the early 1970s, presumably to project a reconciliatory image.