Oman tries a secret Abadi organization
Oman, Politics, 4/19/2005

The trial of inspecified number of citizens started on Monday in Oman. They were detained earlier this year for being members of an Islamic secret movement and planning to conspire against the state.

Witnesses said that the trial was held in top secrecy at the official level. The authorities did not announce the opening of the trial nor the issue was tackled by the Omani media.

The first trial session was only attended by journalists for the local media and a representative for each of the families of the accused persons and members in the Shoura council ( consultation council) and the appointed state council.

One attendee said that three convicted persons were brought before the first session of the special court which was held in Muscat on Monday morning. He added that the representative for the attorney general accused them of being members in "a banned secret organization and the attempt to topple the ruling regime by means of force." The three accused men are a teacher in the faculty of education, an Imam of the university mosque and one employee. The court is due to continue later to try other accused persons.

The authorities did not disclose the number of detained accused persons. However, a source close to the case said on Monday that their number is 30.

Information in the capital said the accused men belong to al-Abadi sect which sources say that 75% of the Omani people embrace. Most of them belong to influential tribes and they hope to restore back the "Imamship," which is in the "Abadi" sect the political and religious leadership which is assumed by the Imam, and was abrogated in 1959.

The officials did not disclose the identity of the suspected persons. However the Omani Sabla website, which is used by the Islamists and liberals alike, disclosed the identity of some 13 detainees including Aaleh al-Reikhi the director of mosques in the Sultan s court and Kahlan al-Kharisi who presides over the annual Omani al-Haj mission.

Security sources said that scores were arrested in the beginning and there are still other 42 detained.

Unconfirmed information indicate that these groups planned to attack Muscat trade and cultural festival which was organized on January 21 through February 20 as well as other trade centers and oil installations.

Following press reports, the Omani minister of information Hamad Bin Mahmoud al-Rashidi disclosed in January the detention of Islamists, noting that the detainees were trying to form an organization aiming at violating national security.

However, Oman which is a small producer of oil ( 800,000 barrels a day), is not an OPEC member. Its population tolls 2.34 million inhabiting a land comprises half of France's total area.

The Sultanate occupied a key strategic location at the entrance of the Arab peninsula at the gate of the Arab Gulf region.

Previous Stories:
  Oman discloses extremists group that includes remarkable figures   (4/15/2005)
  Oman and Syria to boost trade relations   (3/31/2005)
  Oman: continued detention for 10 Islamists   (2/4/2005)

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