Palace Office (Oman)

Although the Palace Office as is may not have been established until the 1980s there is evidence that British advisors had begun the work of setting the office up as early as 1972. Certainly influential characters such as Brigadier Sir Timothy Landon and Sheilagh Bailey were critical in developing the early functionality of what would become the Palace Office. It was particularly important that the small nucleus of trusted advisors made arrangements to secure the ruler of Oman in the 1970s and establish contacts with neighboring states to ensure their cooperation. ==Office functions==

The functions of the Minister of the Palace Office are: • To head the office of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. • Be a lead member of the Sultanate's Defense Committee. • Oversee the functions of special security capabilities within the Sultanate (e.g. the ISS and Sultan's Special Forces) • Act as external liaison to international intelligence and security agencies. • Act with the Royal Oman Police and ISS to form and implement anti-corruption policy in the Sultanate. ==National security challenges==

It seems certain that the main National Security Challenges affecting Oman are internal rather than external and an attempted coup d'etat in 2005, which was easily quashed and street unrest in the spring of 2011 and later in 2012, all point to a simmering unrest with the status quo. In early March 2011 HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said decided to replace two key ministers who were seen by many as not keeping in touch with young Omanis not benefiting from Oman's national advances. The long-standing favorite advisor of the Sultan General Ali bin Majid al Maamari was replaced by the relatively unknown and younger General Sultan bin Mohammed al Nua'mani. The current Minister's remit appears unchanged. The Sultanate has also experienced challenges in maintaining its neutrality in the conflict in neighboring Yemen. It has been accused by its GCC partners of not being genuinely neutral and favoring the Houthi rebels. ==Past Palace Office ministers==

• HE General Ali bin Majid al Maamari (1985 – March 2011) ==See also==