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OMAN-ROYALS-HEALTH-BELGIUM
Oman’s Qaboos heads to Belgium for medical checkup
MUSCAT, Dec 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sultan Qaboos of Oman will head to
Belgium on Saturday for a medical checkup, a royal court statement said.
Qaboos, 79, believed to be suffering from colon cancer, has rarely
appeared in public since undergoing lengthy treatment in Germany in March
2015.
The statement said that the checkup will take “a limited period of
time”, but did not specify the duration or give details on his condition.
The sultan’s ill health and repeated hospital spells in Germany have
focused attention on the fact that he has no designated successor.
Qaboos, who has ruled the Gulf sultanate since 1970, is unmarried and
has no children or brothers.
According to the constitution, the sultan must write a letter
designating a successor from the ruling dynasty, to be opened in the event
that his family cannot agree on his replacement within three days of his
death.
BSS/AFP/RY/1630 hrs