Two protesters shot dead in Oman as turmoil spreads

Oman's leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said attends the opening of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha in this December 3, 2007 file photo. -Reuters Photo MUSCAT: Omani police shot dead two demonstrators with rubber bullets on Sunday as the deadly wave of protest rocking the Arab world spread to the normally placid pro-Western sultanate, a security official said. Five people were also wounded when the security forces opened fire on the demonstrators who tried to storm a police station, the official said. "Two were killed after being shot with rubber bullets as protesters attempted to storm a police station," in Sohar, some 200 kilometres northwest of Muscat, the official said requesting anonymity. State news agency ONA confirmed that there had been casualties in Sohar, saying that police and anti-riot forces had clashed with demonstrators. "Police and anti-riot squads confronted this group of wreckers in a bid to protect people and their properties, which caused casualties," it said. The police station targeted by the protesters is near Earth Roundabout, where some 250 demonstrators have been holding a sit-in, witnesses told AFP. The demonstrators have dubbed the intersection "Reform Roundabout," as they press for change in the Gulf sultanate whose ruler Qaboos has been in power for four decades. The protesters, who were mostly unemployed have been demanding jobs, better salaries and measures to curb corruption, the witnesses said. For decades the sultanate was an isolated country living on the margins of the modern world, but the 2010 UN Human Development Report released in November said Oman made the most improvement since 1970 out of 135 countries. Previously, the sultanate had been largely spared the deadly turmoil that has swept the Arab world since the ouster of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising. Around 300 Omanis, including women, staged a peaceful rally in central Muscat on February 18 to demand an increase in salaries and political reforms. But the demonstrators have emphasised their loyalty to the ruler with placards declaring: "We are always loyal to you, Sultan Qaboos." That rally was the second of its kind in the sultanate in the past two months, after about 200 demonstrators took to the streets on January 17 in protest against rising prices and corruption. In an apparent move to calm the demonstrations, Qaboos announced on Saturday an increase in the monthly allowance for students at universities and vocational schools. The state news agency said the sultan ordered a raise in the allowance of between 25 and 90 Omani rials ($65 to $234) to "achieve further development and… provide a decent living for his people." He also ordered the creation of a consumer protection bureau, and was looking into opening cooperatives, ONA said. Earlier this month, Oman raised the minimum wage for an estimated 150,000 private sector employees from $364 to $520 a month.