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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/world/middleeast/28oman.html

Oman Joins Protest Wave, and Two Die in Clashes with Police

BEIRUT — Oman, the normally quiet sultanate along the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, joined the wave of two-month-old political protests shaking the Arab world on Sunday, as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with riot police in the northeast port city of Sohar. Oman’s state news agency, ONA, said two protesters were killed.

Shortly after the violence, Oman’s leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has led the oil-rich country for the past 40 years, gave orders to create 50,000 jobs, ONA reported. He also ordered the equivalent of $386 a month for every job seeker.

The protest started peacefully but turned violent after the police fired rubber bullets at protesters and demonstrators burned several government buildings, including a police station, and cars, according to witnesses and news reports.

“Police and anti-riot squads confronted this group of saboteurs in a bid to protect people and their properties, which caused casualties,” ONA said on its Web site.

The Reuters news agency, quoting witnesses in Sohar, said that 2,000 people had gathered in a square demanding political reforms, more jobs and better pay. Police officers tried to disperse them, first using tear gas and batons and then rubber bullets.

A picture posted online showed what appeared to be the body of a man lying on the side of the street as two armored vehicles passed him.

A video posted on YouTube showed smoke billowing from at least one building in Sohar and protesters stoning a police car and burning tires on the side of the street.

A witness in Sohar reached by telephone said that army troops had moved in and that helicopters were flying over the city but added that the situation was calm and that all protesters seemed to have gone home.

“It is not clear what will happen,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “But people are angry and it could get violent again.”

Governments in several gulf countries have announced reforms and financial assistance in recent days in an attempt to curb public anger. Calls for huge demonstrations on March 4 went out on social networking sites, calling on people to take to the streets in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.


Eric D. Schwerin
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eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com
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