Continuity of the Alliance 2000-2010

The year 2000 marked the 200^th anniversary of the formal agreement between Sayyid Sultan bin Ahmad Al Busaidi and Captain John Malcolm on 18^th January 1800 which secured the British alliance with Oman through British recognition of Oman as the predominant power in the area. 

The agreement stated that “an English gentleman of respectability...shall always reside at the port of Muscat” and that “the friendship of the two States may remain unshook till the end of time, and till the sun and moon have finished their revolving career”.

Contemporary copy of the 1800 Agreement text signed by John Malcolm

The continuity of the alliance was celebrated with Operation Saif Saree’a (Swift Sword) 2 in 2001 involving nearly a quarter of the British Army, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy alongside HM The Sultan’s armed forces. There were regular Omani military appearances at the Edinburgh Tattoo. The Anglo Omani Society celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2006 with a reception at Lancaster House in London. The pattern of Royal and ministerial visits was maintained in the new century while cooperation grew in education, tourism and on a wide range of projects developing the Sultanate’s economy and environment.

UK Challenger tanks in action in Oman in exercise Saif Saree’a 2

Oman’s Royal Army Band and Royal Regiment of Scotland (Black Watch), 2003 Edinburgh Festival

HRH The Prince of Wales visits Bait Al Zubair in 2003; seen with Hani bin Mohammed Al Zubair, Sarah White and museum staff

Baroness Symons Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Muscat in 2003 for talks with HE Yousef bin Alawi, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs

The BBC's Eastern Relay Station (BERS) closed in 2002
BERS had been in operation on Masirah Island since 1968 and was replaced through an agreement with the Ministry of Information by a new state of the art automated station near Al Ashkarah on the mainland

Royal Geographical Society and Dr Iman Al Busaidi in a review of the Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve January 2008

The Anglo Omani Society celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2006 with a reception at Lancaster House in London
Left to right: HE Hussain Abdulatif (Omani Ambassador), Richard Muir (AOS Chairman), HRH The Prince of Wales, HH Sayyid Shihab bin Tarik

The late HE Rajiha bint Abdul Amir, Minister of Tourism meets British tour operators and travel specialists in London October 2010