Last week, Queen Beatrix visited Sultan Qaboos of Oman and Emir Hadad of Qatar. During a conversation with the Dutch journalists who accompanied her, she expressed her appreciation for these two dictators. She praised the vision of the Emir and the wisdom of Sultan Qaboos. Both countries are ranked by Freedom House as non-free countries, the lowest of its three categories. [The other two are free and partly free.]
The royal family will pay a short visit to Oman after all next week, foreign affairs minister Uri Rosenthal told MPs on Friday, Nos television reports.
Queen Beatrix, crown prince Willem-Alexander and princess Maxima will attend a private dinner with sultan Qaboos, the minister said. The formal state visit and trade promotion tour was postponed earlier this week because of political unrest in the Gulf state. After the dinner, the royal party will travel on to Qatar for a three day visit
DutchNews.nl - Human rights in Oman
UPDATE:
Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said has replaced two ministers, after protests erupted demanding reforms and an end to corruption in the Gulf state, state media has reported. Demonstrators have urged the sultan to dismiss all government ministers and have them investigated for any illegal activities.
Meanwhile, protests in the country have spread to a key oil region, Haima, with oil workers staging a sit-in in the area about 500km southwest of the capital Muscat. The oil workers are calling for more government investment in the area, a government official told the Associated Press. Demonstrations flared last week, with protesters seeking jobs and a greater political voice. One demonstrator was killed.
Omani police fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters in the industrial city of Sohar on Sunday who were demanding political reforms as unrest spread to the Gulf Arab sultanate, witnesses said. They said scores of protesters had gathered for a second day of protest in Sohar and that police had cordoned them off. Protests were also happening in the southern town of Salalah where demonstrators have been camped out since Friday near the office of a provincial governor. Reuters
Omani ruler Sultan Qaboos has changed six ministers in his cabinet and raised stipends for university students in an attempt to prevent further protests in the tiny Persian Gulf country. Press TV