This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000389 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD, NEA/P, AND IIP/G/NEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SOCI MU
SUBJECT: OMAN ONLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS, FOLEY KILLERS, AND PRISON 
ASSAULT 
 
¶1. Summary: The Omani Internet message board "al-Sablah" is the 
liveliest and most comprehensive Arabic-language forum for 
political and social discourse in the country, touching on issues 
and personalities rarely addressed in the conventional media. 
While neither totally free nor wholly reflective of Omani public 
opinion, this popular site nevertheless offers a worthwhile 
window into the hot topics and unvarnished views of the day. 
This edition of Oman Online contains the following topics: 
 
  -- Reaction to State Department Human Rights Report 
  -- Execution of Foley Killers 
  -- Jericho Prison Assault 
  -- Personnel Shuffle in Omani Government 
 
End summary. 
 
------------------- 
Human Rights Report 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  Al-Sablah published an informal partial translation of the 
State Department's Human Rights country report on Oman, which 
includes mention of activists Abdullah al-Riyami and Taybah al- 
Ma'wali.  Nearly all respondents characterized the U.S. stance on 
human rights as hypocritical:  "Who is America to talk about 
human rights?  It is the most violent country."  "These reports 
are not credible, produced by the most flagrant violator of human 
rights."  "Why don't they publish reports about Abu Ghraib, 
Guantanamo, Afghanistan or even about economic freedom and the 
Dubai port deal?"  One contributor wrote, "We all know that the 
report's facts are correct, but this is truth for a bad purpose." 
Another stated that "This report is not for the benefit of 
Omanis; it was written for the sake of the free trade agreement 
and to satisfy the American Congress."  The topic generated 3,629 
hits, and 40 responses.  Most respondents supported the idea of 
protecting human rights, but felt that the U.S. report was 
hypocritical. 
 
-------------------------- 
Execution of Foley Killers 
-------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Al-Sablah members accused the Jordanian royal family of 
seeking to please the U.S. by executing the individuals convicted 
of murdering diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman.  "The death 
sentence was implemented a few days ago and nobody objected to 
it, yet America objected to Libya's decision to execute the 
Bulgarian nurses who killed hundreds of Libyan children...the 
(Jordanian) King and his predecessor were American agents.  No 
wonder the Americans get what they want from us. Curse them!" All 
11 responses to the topic opposed the execution of the killers 
and expressed antipathy towards the Jordanian royal family. There 
were 931 hits. 
 
---------------------- 
Israeli Prison Assault 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  Al-Sablah members commented about the Israeli assault on a 
prison in Jericho, capturing PFLP general secretary Ahmed Saadat 
and several other Palestinians accused of killing Israel's 
tourism minister in 2001.  Most members adopted a conspiratorial 
view of the operation, agreeing that "The assault was coordinated 
ahead of time.  The U.S. and British troops guarding Ahmed Saadat 
pulled out just before the Israeli assault." There was also much 
agreement with the statement that "The Americans and British are 
the ones who should be called terrorists, and they support 
Zionist plans in the region." There were two discussion threads 
on this topic, with total hits at 603, and 54 responses. 
 
----------------- 
Personnel Shuffle 
----------------- 
 
¶5.  Al-Sablah members reacted to Khalid al-Amri's replacing Dr. 
Munir al-Maskary as Undersecretary for the Ministry of Manpower, 
responsible for all of Oman's technical colleges (which play a 
crucial role in preparing large numbers of young Omanis for the 
job market).  Some members agreed that "Dr. Munir al-Maskary is 
an educated man who contributed to the development of higher 
education in Oman."  Others noted that "he is known for his 
excellent experience, which included being the head of the first 
private two-year college in Oman and later dean of the first four 
year degree granting institution, the Modern College of Business 
and Science."  However, many respondents felt that "Dr. al- 
Maskary failed in drafting and setting guidelines for the 
technical colleges to follow.  He made contradictory decisions 
regarding the schools, which resulted in many changes and 
transitions that the schools kept going through the past two 
years."  The topic generated 948 hits and seven responses. 90 per 
cent of the respondents felt that the shuffle was symptomatic of 
the government's failure to install qualified people in the right 
positions; 10% wished to see more changes for the benefit of 
technical-college students. 
 
BALTIMORE