Uneasy sits Qaboos

摘要

FEW leaders are as ubiquitous as Sultan Qaboos of Oman. His ageless portrait hangs as per regulation from every shop wall. Every six months or so, between bouts of cancer treatment, he also appears on television to prove he is still alive. At his last appearance in May, his fist seemed-clenched in pain. He wore a similar white-cut tunic to the one his father used to wear before his son intervened to unseat him, stave off bankruptcy and pack him into exile in Delhi.