Oman’s former culture minister Haitham bin Tariq Al Said has been named the country’s new sultan, a state-owned news agency reported Saturday, following the death of the previous ruler.
Haitham was sworn in by the ruling family’s council hours after the death of his cousin, Qaboos bin Al Said, the longest-reigning Arab ruler.
During his 50-year rule, Qaboos was widely credited with implementing positive reforms in Oman, transforming a nation torn by civil war into a stable, oil-exporting country that was able to make peace with its neighbors.
Under Qaboos’s rule, Oman became the first Gulf country to create trade ties with Israel while maintaining peaceful ties with the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Iran, despite the three countries’ dueling interests.
Haitham’s first public remarks to Omanis and the world stressed that he would continue down the path laid by Qaboos as a beacon of peace in the Middle East.
“We will follow the same line as the late sultan, and the principles that he asserted for the foreign policy of our country, of peaceful coexistence among nations and people, and good neighborly behavior of non-interference in the affairs of others,” he said, according to state news outlets.