From Oman Observer
--->The Criminal Court in Muscat yesterday issued its verdict in a case involving the attempted murder of British citizens Peter James xxxxx and A xxxxxxx, who were targeted in separate attacks. The court found the accused, Mohammed bin Ahmed al Harthy, guilty and sentenced him to jail for life, the Royal Oman Police said in a press statement. The court also awarded compensation to the tune of RO 10,000 to be paid to xxxxx, and a sum of RO 8,000 to xxxxxxx. Further, it ordered the confiscation of the weapon found in the possession of the accused. Both attacks, which took place in Muscat Governorate, were investigated by the ROP who eventually arrested Al Harthy. The accused confessed to having attempted to kill the Britons, the press statement said.<---
Unrelated to the case above; We did have some crazy rumours about terrorists trying to bomb Muscat Festival this year. It has since boiled down to a number of Omanis arrested for "anti Omani activity".
The Qatar bombing came as a shock since it happened in one of the, shall we say safe?, countries in ME.
While UAE do not have any US bases, it still must be a real torn in the eyes of the extremists. I think Dubail will suffer greatly as a tourist destination and stop over point should they attack there.
Will the attack in Qatar affect QR bookings?
Since all information is tightly controlled, it's difficult to know whats really going on.
One of the shootings above was for a long time classified as a hunting accident by the ROP. Only now have they released the facts.