Oman leader promises jobs, to fight corruption

Corruption and unemployment at home can not be ignored in the wake of regional upheavals, Sultan Qaboos tells officials

Oman's ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said promised on Monday action to lower unemployment and fight corruption in his first public speech since protests rocked the usually quiet Gulf Arab state earlier this year.
But he said nothing about giving Oman's elected assembly more legislative powers after promising earlier this year to institute reforms.
Last week Sultan Qaboos, in power since a 1970 coup, issued a decree allowing the assembly, known as the Shura Council, to approve or amend laws proposed by the cabinet before a final draft goes back to him for approval.
In the address on Monday, he told government officials that Oman was not isolated from regional and international trends and that corruption and unemployment could not be ignored.
"We are living in a world that is witnessing rapid developments on the regional and international levels that have clear effects," he said. "It is not possible for us to be isolated from what is happening around us."
Inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Omanis began protesting in February for increased political and economic rights.
The sultan said the government had created thousands of jobs in different state sectors and was working with the private sector to increase employment.
Oman has one of the world's youngest populations -- about 40 percent of its people are under 21, according to official figures -- and youth unemployment is high.
In September, two Omani journalists were sentenced to five months prison for publishing an article on alleged corruption in the justice ministry. The government has so far twice delayed the hearing for their appeal.
In his address, the sultan said the government ensured freedom of expression. "The government's laws ensure that every Omani has the right to express his opinion," he said.
Despite praising the sultan's success in using Oman's limited oil revenue to improve social and economic infrastructure in the last four decades, critics have bemoaned the country's lack of popular representation.
In last week's amendments, the 70-year-old leader, who has no children or named heir, added a clause to the succession laws giving the elected assembly a role in choosing the country's next leader, but only if the ruling family does not manage to come up with a chosen successor within days of his death.