In Oman, an ancient mediation method gets a makeover

Omani men have breakfast prior to holding a traditional local council meeting known as the “Sabla” in the small village of Ghala, near Muscat. (AFP)
Updated 15 January 2018
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In Oman, an ancient mediation method gets a makeover

GHALA, Oman: Omani Mahmoud bin Yousef Temtemi found himself in a pastoral predicament this autumn — his neighbor’s flock of sheep had overrun his farm and gobbled up his crops, threatening his income.
Rather than make a scene or turn to the police, Temtemi chose to raise his complaint in Omani tradition: through the local “sabla,” or council.
Dressed in a robe and embroidered cap, Temtemi took his place on a sunny Friday morning at his neighborhood sabla in the village of Ghala — held outdoors on a patch of sidewalk.
“The farm is our livelihood,” Temtemi told an AFP correspondent attending the meeting. “I told myself I would lodge a complaint at the sabla, where the owner of the sheep would be present.”
In Ghala, just outside the capital Muscat, the sheikh humbly brings breakfast for meetings of the council. The youngest serves coffee.
The fellowship broke the ice for the mediation Temtemi sought. Acknowledging a problem needed to be solved, the men filed over to the meeting hall — a sparse room with little more than benches built into the walls.
The elders listened to the farmer’s story, discussed, then decided on compensation from the sheep owner.
“He will pay 150 riyals ($390) and keep an eye on his sheep,” said a satisfied Temtemi.
Oman’s sabla is a unique form of consensus building that many see as central to the Gulf nation’s traditions, and which some want to see adapted to the age of the smartphone.
“This council is where the old and young come to learn. The youth learn manners from their elders,” grey-bearded Sayeed bin Khalfan Nabhani said in Ghala.
Nabhani said the history of the sabla goes back “ages,” but some 40 years ago — after Sultan Qaboos took power in Oman — it was granted a degree of government recognition.
“From the early 1970s, you had the governor and judge sitting at the council, along with witnesses and people of the villages — plus the person with the problem,” said Nabhani.
A solution is often found before the judge is called to get involved, he said.
In far-flung areas, the sabla remains central to life, but even there it is changing, with women for example reserving the hall for their own meetings.
Hilal Al-Siyabi, an Omani community activist, believes the sabla can — and should — keep up with the times.
In the lush Muscat suburb of Saael, a new kind of sabla is under construction.
A shell of a building stood off the main road, a mountain range in the background.
Siyabi’s voice echoed as he pointed to where LCD screens would be installed and computers set up for a future Internet cafe.
“We are leveraging on the concept of sabla to do something much better — something which is beneficial to today’s community,” he said.
This center would embrace the whole family, he explained, with a special emphasis on the young.
Siyabi said an exploratory meeting three years earlier was packed with curious residents — notably women.
“Young women,” he said. “They were excited to have such a center. They said, ‘We are not working but we are going to sell our precious gold to contribute to something like this.’“
Siyabi said the government has fully supported the initiative, which seeks to build on tradition in a changing world and keep conflict resolution local.
He sees the sabla evolving from its role as a mediation authority to a town hall-style forum and community center.
For Muscat-based public policy analyst Ahmed Al-Mukhaini, the sabla is a “microcosm” of the Omani state: discreet and tribal.
“You don’t hang out your dirty linen,” Mukhaini said, adding it was no surprise the government supports the continuation of the sabla.
Under Sultan Qaboos, Oman has not replaced the sabla — now a “benign form of assembly,” the analyst said, but institutionalized it, with modern forms of government continuing to function in the same patriarchical and hierarchical way.
“In Oman they spend a lot of time on consensus building, versus majority-based decisions,” Mukhaini said.
Authorities in Muscat continue to recognize tribal chiefs as official representatives, registered with the interior ministry.
Each tribe’s “rasheed,” or interlocutor, functions as a conduit to the government, often feeling out sentiment on domestic policy changes, such as recent health care privatization proposals.
“I’m not aware of any other country where tribal leaders are on a payroll or where the system of sheikhdom is controlled by the government,” Mukhaini said.
Even the modern Shoura council, Oman’s only elected body, is dominated by tribal heavyweights — not the technocrats and intellectuals found in the council of state appointed by the sultan.
“The system that remains until now keeps tabs on public opinion or resentment,” said the analyst.
When Qaboos overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1970, the British-educated ruler reached out to the tribes in an early radio address, reassuring tribal leaders and promising to institutionalize their role.
The sabla is so important to Omani culture that it will even decide who will succeed the 77-year-old sultan when he dies.
“Basic law gives the appointment of the next sultan to the royal family sabla,” Mukhaini said.
If the cousins of Qaboos — he has no brothers or heir apparent — fail to choose a successor within a matter of days, Mukhaini said it will fall to the defense council, chief justice and Shoura council to reach a consensus, this time on behalf of the nation.


Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM

Updated 14 July 2025
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Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM

  • Ehud Olmert slams proposal by defense minister, saying it amounts to ethnic cleansing
  • He condemns settler crimes in West Bank, calling extremist Israeli ministers ‘enemies from within’

London: Plans to build a “humanitarian city” for displaced Palestinians in Gaza would amount to creating a concentration camp, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.

The plan, outlined by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week and backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes to relocate around 600,000 Palestinians — and eventually Gaza’s entire population of over 2 million — to the site in Rafah. Once there, they would only be allowed to leave if traveling abroad.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told The Guardian. “If they (Palestinians) will be deported into the new ‘humanitarian city,’ then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing.”

He added: “When they build a camp where they (say they plan to) ‘clean’ more than half of Gaza, then the inevitable understanding of the strategy of this (is that) it is not to save (Palestinians).

“It is to deport them, to push them and to throw them away. There is no other understanding that I have, at least.”

Israeli legal experts and journalists wrote to Katz last week warning that “under certain conditions it could amount to the crime of genocide.”

Olmert also condemned the uptick in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, criticizing complicity by Israeli authorities and calling the deaths of two men recently, including a US citizen, war crimes.

“(It is) unforgivable. Unacceptable. There are continuous operations organised, orchestrated in the most brutal, criminal manner by a large group,” he said.

“There is no way that they can operate in such a consistent, massive and widespread manner without a framework of support and protection which is provided by the (Israeli) authorities in the (Occupied) Territories.”

Discussing extreme right-wing Israeli Cabinet ministers pushing the violence in the West Bank and using language such as “cleanse” in relation to Gaza, Olmert called them “the enemy from within,” warning that their rhetoric and actions would fuel anti-Israel sentiment.

“In the US there is more and more and more expanding expressions of hatred to Israel,” he said. “We make a discount to ourselves saying: ‘They are antisemites.’ I don’t think that they are only antisemites, I think many of them are anti-Israel because of what they watch on television, what they watch on social networks.

“This is a painful but normal reaction of people who say: ‘Hey, you guys have crossed every possible line.’”

Olmert said that although he backed the initial invasion of Gaza after the October 2023 Hamas attack, he is “ashamed and heartbroken” at how Israel’s government has prosecuted the war and abandoned peace negotiations.

“What can I do to change the attitude, except for number one, recognising these evils, and number two, to criticise them and to make sure the international public opinion knows there are (other) voices, many voices in Israel?” he asked.

Saying he believes the Israeli military’s actions have caused “the killing of a large number of non-involved people,” he added: “I cannot refrain from accusing this government of being responsible for war crimes committed.”

However, he voiced hope that peace and a two-state solution are still possible, telling The Guardian that he is working with former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Qidwa to lobby the international community to help make it happen.


Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias

Updated 14 July 2025
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Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias

  • Fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Sweida itself

DAMASCUS: Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias there.
Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ‘s Sweida province. Government security forces that were sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry has said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured in that fighting.
Dozens of people have been killed in fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ‘s Sweida province, where government security forces sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor reported at least 50 dead, including two children and six members of the security forces.
Clashes initially broke out between armed groups from the Druze religious minority and Sunni Bedouin clans, the observatory said, with some members of the government security forces “actively participating” in support of the Bedouins.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba told the state-run state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV that government forces entered Sweida in the early morning to restore order.
“Some clashes occurred with outlawed armed groups, but our forces are doing their best to prevent any civilian casualties,” he said.
The observatory said the clashes started after a series of kidnappings between both groups, which began when members of a Bedouin tribe in the area set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a young Druze man.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the observatory, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.
Syria’s defense and interior ministries were deploying personnel to the area to attempt to restore order.
The Interior Ministry described the situation as a dangerous escalation that “comes in the absence of the relevant official institutions, which has led to an exacerbation of the state of chaos, the deterioration of the security situation, and the inability of the local community to contain the situation despite repeated calls for calm.”
Factions from the Druze minority have been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus after former President Bashar Assad fled the country during a rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups in December. Earlier this year, Druze groups in Sweida clashed with security forces from the new government.
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
The Druze developed their own militias during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. Since Assad’s fall, different Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.


Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

Updated 14 July 2025
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Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

  • Wizz said geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand
  • Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region

LONDON: Low-cost carrier Wizz Air said on Monday it was quitting its Abu Dhabi operation after six years to focus on its main European market, citing geopolitical instability and limited market access.

Wizz, which originally focused on central and eastern Europe but expanded into Britain, Italy and Austria, said in future it would concentrate on its much more profitable European business.

Wizz said the geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand, while the impact of the hot environment in the Middle East had hurt engine efficiency, making it hard to operate its low-cost model.

Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region as it had hoped, the airline said.

“They just couldn’t make money out of the Middle East,” Davy analyst Stephen Furlong said.

Wizz said it will stop local flights from Sept. 1, 2025 and would be contacting customers regarding refunds.

“Supply chain constraints, geopolitical instability, and limited market access have made it increasingly difficult to sustain our original ambitions,” Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said in a statement.

“While this was a difficult decision, it is the right one given the circumstances,” he added.

Wizz Air is in talks with Airbus about scaling back its order for 47 A321XLR, a longer range aircraft, and converting some of them to regular A321 jet.

“We have 47 XLRs on order. We are going to scale that back,” Varadi said.

“We have conversion rights for the majority of that of that aircraft order. So we are talking to the manufacturer.”


Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks

Updated 14 July 2025
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Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks

  • Iran had been negotiating with the US before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month
  • The US launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on June 22

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no specific date” for a meeting with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program, following a war with Israel that had derailed negotiations.

“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei of plans for a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran had been negotiating with the United States before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month, which Washington later joined.

Araghchi and Witkoff met five times, starting in April, without concluding a deal, before Israel launched surprise strikes on June 13, starting a 12-day war.

“We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran,” said Baqaei.

The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.

The extent of the damage from the strikes remains unknown.

With its own strikes, numbering in the hundreds, Israel killed nuclear scientists and top-ranking military officers as well as hitting military, nuclear and other sites.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel, while it attacked a US base in Qatar in retaliation for Washington’s strikes.

Israel and Western nations accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.

While it is the only non-nuclear power to enrich uranium to 60-percent purity, close to the level needed for a warhead, the UN’s atomic energy watchdog has said it had no indication that Iran was working to weaponize its stockpiles.


Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack

Updated 14 July 2025
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Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack

  • The agency said the residents of the building were ordinary citizens

DUBAI: An explosion at a residential building injured seven people in the Pardisan neighborhood of Qom city, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported, going on to quote an unnamed source saying it was not the result of any Israeli attack.
“Four residential units were damaged in the blast. Initial assessments show that the cause of the incident was a gas leak, and follow-ups are continuing in this regard,” the director of Qom’s fire department told Fars.
The agency said the residents of the building were ordinary citizens.
Iran’s regional arch-rival Israel has a record of assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists, whom it considers part of a program that directly threatens Israel. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Since the end of a 12-day air war last month between Iran and Israel, in which Israel and the United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, several explosions have occurred in Iran, but authorities have not blamed Israel.
“People should not worry about rumors (of Israeli attacks). If a hostile action occurs in the country, the news will immediately reach the people and alarm bells will simultaneously be activated in the Occupied Territories,” Fars quoted an unnamed Iranian source as saying following the blast in Qom.