MUSCAT, (Reuters) – Oman’s ruler has decided to cede some legislative powers to a partially elected council, the state news agency reported yesterday, in an apparent effort to quell protests in the Gulf Arab sultanate.
The ONA agency also said Sultan Qaboos bin Said would double monthly welfare payments and increase pension benefits, becoming the latest Gulf ruler to offer handsome handouts to citizens in the wake of unrest that has rocked much of the Arab world.
The normally tranquil Oman, an oil-producing nation at the mouth of the Gulf, was stunned by protests in at least two
