A SHARED CONCERN

SULTAN QABOOS BIN SAID began his four-day state visit to the United States on 11 April, having already concluded an official visit to Jordan and a private stay in Britain. The Sultan's tour, on which he is accompanied by four senior ministers including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yousef al Alawi, is not altogether a purely formal event and signifies the Sultanate's move into a wider international arena. In Britain the Sultan was on familiar territory. He took the salute at the graduating ceremony at Sandhurst, Britain's leading military academy which the Sultan himself attended and where Omanis still come for military training.