LOW KEY CONFRONTATION

CAPTAIN ALI ABDULLAH is a brisk and confident young officer in the Sultanate of Oman's Armed Forces and one of his duties is to deliver a military briefing to invited visitors on the operational role and functions of the Southern Oman Brigade. In the Brigade's headquarters near Sallalah, on Oman's southern coast, Captain Ali stands before a large scale wall map of the Sultanate's western border with the People's Democratic Republic of ,(South) Yemen (PDRY) and points out the main deployment areas of the Southern Oman Brigade - the sharp end of Oman's low key confrontation with the PDRY.