© EPA-EFE/Hamid al-Qasmi/FileSultan Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman, holds the opening session of the annual Council Meeting in Muscat, Oman, 31 October 2011.
Not one UK national newspaper has
described Sultan Qaboos as a dictator, despite his being the Middle East's longest-serving autocrat, having taken power in 1970. Qaboos' half century in power was more than twice as long as Saddam Hussein's 24-year-rule in Iraq and even surpassed Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years in Libya.
Qaboos acted as Oman's prime minister, defence minister, finance minister, foreign minister and head of the judiciary. If the Sultan had been as popular as some commentators
claim, then he could have successfully run for office. Yet he was never elected by the people of Oman and instead ruled by decree with absolute power for 50 years, suppressing all opposition.
Political parties were
banned, independent media
muzzled and it was a criminal offence to insult the sultan.
Comment: Israel has many effective 'Palestinian eradication' modalities in implementation. Destroying the food supply is only one of them.
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