My buddy and former colleague Richard Muir, who has died aged 81, was a diplomat central to the method of sustaining and nurturing the skein of relationships between Britain and the Sultanate of Oman.
These return centuries however have grown exponentially for the reason that renaissance of Oman from 1970 onwards underneath Sultan Qaboos bin Stated. Richard and I have been each British ambassadors within the capital, Muscat, within the Nineteen Eighties and 90s, and each chairmen of the Anglo-Omani Society (now the British Omani Society) within the 2000s and 2010s. Readability of thoughts, coupled with empathy and understanding, made Richard an influential if low-key participant in an essential set of relationships for each side.
He was born in Muswell Hill, north London, to John Muir, supervisor of a paper manufacturing firm, and Edna (nee Hodges), a librarian, and went to the Stationers’ Firm’s faculty in Hornsey earlier than finding out French at Studying College.
In 1964 he joined the diplomatic service, and the next 12 months went to the Center East Centre for Arab Research (Mecas), the diplomatic service Arabic language faculty in Lebanon. Whereas there he married, in 1966, Caroline Simpson, whom he had met when she was working on the International Workplace in London.
Richard’s diplomatic profession was unusually centered. He had 5 postings within the Center East and north Africa, all bar one (Tunis) within the Arabian peninsula and the Gulf. His solely different abroad posting was in Washington – masking the Center East. For the final eight years of his profession he was ambassador successively in Muscat (1994-99) and in Kuwait (1999-2002).
In Muscat he had frequent entry to Sultan Qaboos, who awarded him the Order of Na’aman (firstclass) in 2013. He additionally had shut pals amongst different senior Omanis, and was appreciated and revered for his lively work to additional develop relations with the brand new Oman.
As chairman of the Anglo-Omani Society between 2004 and 2012, Richard labored to make the ties between Oman and Britain extra related to youthful generations. He additionally acquired premises off Piccadilly in London, funded by the Omani authorities, to accommodate the society’s actions and to supply an revenue stream to fund them. On this he labored intently with the Omani ambassador in London on the non-public directions of Sultan Qaboos.
After giving up the chairmanship, Richard remained lively in Omani affairs till shortly earlier than his demise, significantly on constructing relationships between the Council of State (the higher home of the Council of Oman) in Muscat and the Home of Lords.
Reflecting his curiosity within the wider Gulf space, he additionally labored for the Al Tajir Belief within the UAE and chaired the Sir William Luce Memorial Fund, which funds a fellowship at Durham College. He wrote, edited and sponsored work on Oman and the broader Gulf area to sit down alongside the pioneering work of earlier generations of British officers working within the area.
He’s survived by Caroline, their youngsters, Catherine and Alastair, two granddaughters, Eliza and Florence, and his brother Andrew.
