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Muscat And Oman (Treaty Of Sib)

Volume 642: debated on Monday 12 June 1961

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35.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will now publish the text of the Treaty of Sib between the Sultan of Muscat and the Imam of Oman, in view of the fact that it was negotiated with the assistance of the British representative in Muscat and was initialled by him.

As Her Majesty's Government had special responsibilities for the negotiation of this Treaty, and as they have twice used British troops against the Imam of Oman in recent years, and in view of the fact that a settlement has still not been reached with the Imam of Oman, would it not be desirable for the House to know just what were the terms of the Treaty on which the Imam's rights and claims are based?

I must make it clear—as I tried to do once before in answering the right hon. Gentleman—that the British Government were not responsible for the negotiation of this agreement. In fact, the British Political Agent was responsible for bringing the parties together but, thereafter, they carried on their own discussions and they reached agreement between themselves.

As far as the settlement in Oman is concerned, at the moment, of course, there is law and order there and peace and quiet. An offer which I described fully to the right hon. Gentleman was made to the Imam and his friends to return to Muscat and Oman, but, unfortunately, those negotiations broke down.

Is it not the case that both the juridical legitimacy and the political wisdom of British military intervention on behalf of the Sultan in Oman is bound to depend very much on the Sultan's rights in Oman? Until this House and the British people know exactly what are the Sultan's rights as defined in the Treaty, there will be grave doubts about the wisdom of Her Majesty's Government's policy in this respect.

The question of publicity for this document is for the Sultan and not for the British Government.

But since the Treaty was made on our initiative and since we have conducted the foreign relations of the Sultan for a long time, would it not really be desirable that we should know what is the text of the Treaty? Is it not a fact that the Treaty says, in Article 4, that the Government of the Sultan shall not interfere in the internal affairs of the territory of Oman? If so, will the Government, in order to maintain peace there, negotiate for a settlement on that Article 4?

Naturally, I cannot refer to specific articles in the Treaty without a detailed Question before me. The British Government have never been responsible for the external relations of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. On specific occasions he has referred matters to the British Government, but we ale not responsible for their external relations.