Timothy Landon

Last updated April 21, 2022

Brigadier James Timothy Whittington Landon, KCVO (granted to him as an Omani citizen), (born 20 August 1942, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada; died 6 July 2007, Winchester, Hampshire, England) served in the British and Omani armies and was instrumental in the development of the present Sultanate of Oman. He was one of Britain's wealthiest people. He was widely suspected to have been involved in a significant affair with Qaboos bin Said, whom he helped install as his father's successor to the Sultanate.

Early life

Born to a British Brigadier General and a Canadian mother, Tim Landon attended Eastbourne College in Sussex. As a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Landon was posted to the 10th Hussars.

Time in Oman

With his regiment, he travelled overland from Europe to Arabia and arrived in Oman in the mid-1960s. He was sent there as part of a British military operation to help Sultan Said bin Taimur defeat the Soviet-backed Dhofar Rebellion. He was stationed in the south as an intelligence officer, but was transferred to Muscat. There he became an integral part of the British-aided coup to remove the old Sultan, whose style of rule – which was all but preventing the country's modernisation – was feeding the flames of the Dhofar insurgency that was poised to spread the length of Oman and threaten the Straits of Hormuz, and subsequently much of the West's oil supply.

Landon, who was close to the Sultan's son Qaboos from his Sandhurst days, was allowed to visit his friend, although the Sultan had placed his son under house arrest. Convincing the son to oust his father from the throne was no easy task. The coup occurred on 23 July 1970, when Landon was twenty-seven. Said bin Taimur was confronted at his palace and told to sign over power to his son. The only confirmed casualty in this otherwise bloodless coup was the old Sultan's foot when he inadvertently shot himself.^{[ citation needed ]} The deposed ruler was flown to London on an RAF transport aircraft. ^{[ citation needed ]} He ended up living in a suite at the Dorchester hotel until his death in 1972. When asked once what was his greatest regret, the old man replied: "Not having had Landon shot."^[1]

Over the next fifteen years, the young officer helped his friends develop the Sultanate from a non-industrial, agrarian economy into a modern 20th-century state. Omani oil revenues enabled much of the country's advances and Landon became a leading advocate of "Omanisation" of the economy and government.

Later projects

By 1979, Landon's position as an adviser had become a figurehead role. He returned to England, taking up a diplomatic post at the Omani embassy in London and establishing a home at Faccombe, a village near Andover in Hampshire. The title the "White Sultan" was regarded with bemusement by Landon, who maintained that Sultan Qaboos was very much in charge of Oman's destiny, and he was simply a servant and friend there to give advice. He continued to shuttle between London and Muscat until he died, his Boeing often seen arriving at or leaving Farnborough, the nearest airport to his home.

Financial interests, philanthropy, and controversy

Landon invested the money he had made during his time in Oman, diversifying his wealth into mineral exploration and farming in Africa, property and real estate investments in Europe and America, and a wide range of financial portfolios in global markets. His fortune was estimated at US$750 million or higher. Landon was known to be a patron of the arts and society as well as an avid conservationist, generously assisting with fundraising for foundations and charities.

Landon also played an important role as intermediary in several questionable deals like when giant telecom company Ericsson sold telecommunications equipment to Oman in the late 1990s. The connection was revealed by a joint investigation into Landon's business by the Swedish Public Television "Uppdrag granskning" and Swedish Public Radio's "Dagens Eko" in January 2007.

Landon was also behind another questionable deal when in 1999 Swedish jetfighter Saab and UK defence giant BAE Systems offered millions of dollars in bribes to Czech politicians to buy the Gripen jet-fighter. The real beneficiary of the money paid out was the Austrian Count Alfons von Mensdorff-Pouilly, a longtime agent for BAE and a first cousin of Landon's wife Princess Katalina Esterházy de Galántha. Mensdorff-Pouilly received secret commission contract of at least 81 million Swedish crowns for the final deal in 2003 when the Czech Republic leased Gripen jetfighter.

Both the Ericsson Oman deal and the SAAB/BAE deal has been the focus of several police and parliamentary investigations. By 2008 investigations had opened in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Great Britain, United States, Switzerland, and Austria.^[2]^{[ failed verification ]}

Tim Landon was also involved in the smuggling of a Bofors cannon to the sultanate of Oman in the 1980s. "Sultan Quaboos of Oman got it into his head that his security would be enhanced if his yacht was kitted out with the Bofors guns. He wanted the Bofors guns and the government in Sweden objected to this deal, and this is where Landon and his associates always came into play. If something was denied them by diplomatic channels they would take the scenic route."^[3]

Family and legacy

In 1977 Tim Landon married Princess Katalina Marie Therese Antoinette Esterhazy de Galantha, a member of the Hungarian aristocracy, noted for its felicitous marriages, great wealth, and large land-holdings, and historically loyal to the Habsburg Dynasty. The marriage produced a son, Arthur Landon, who studied film production and has begun to be involved in his family business affairs in recent years. Arthur is, according to the Sunday Times Rich List , the wealthiest young person in Britain, with an inherited fortune of £200 million, and is "a close friend of the royal princes, William and Harry".^[4]

Related Research Articles

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Oman shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen; while sharing maritime borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast, and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the United Arab Emirates on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries. Muscat is the nation's capital and largest city.

Oman is the site of pre-historic human habitation, stretching back over 100,000 years. The region was impacted by powerful invaders, including other Arab tribes, Portugal and Britain. Oman once possessed the island of Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa as a colony. Oman also held Gwadar as a colony for many years.

Muscat is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was 1.4 million as of September 2018. The metropolitan area spans approximately 3,500 km² (1,400 sq mi) and includes six provinces called wilayats. Known since the early 1st century AD as an important trading port between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled by various indigenous tribes as well as foreign powers such as the Persians, the Portuguese Empire, the Iberian Union and the Ottoman Empire at various points in its history. A regional military power in the 18th century, Muscat's influence extended as far as East Africa and Zanzibar. As an important port-town in the Gulf of Oman, Muscat attracted foreign tradesmen and settlers such as the Persians and the Balochis. Since the ascension of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in 1970, Muscat has experienced rapid infrastructural development that has led to the growth of a vibrant economy and a multi-ethnic society. Muscat is termed as a Beta - Global City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

Said bin Taimur was the 13th Sultan of Muscat and Oman from 10 February 1932 until he was deposed on 23 July 1970 by his son Qaboos bin Said.

Qaboos bin Said Al Said was the Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said, he was the longest-serving leader in the Middle East and Arab world at the time of his death.

Salalah is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169.

The Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces are the Royal Army of Oman, Royal Navy of Oman, Royal Air Force of Oman, Sultan's Special Force and other defense forces of the Sultanate of Oman. Since their formal establishment in the early 1950s, with British assistance SAF has twice overcome insurgencies which have threatened the integrity or social structure of the state, and more recently have contributed contingents or facilities to coalitions formed to protect Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, also known briefly as the State of Muscat and Oman during the rule of Timur ibn Faisal, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day Sultanate of Oman and parts of present-day United Arab Emirates and Gwadar, Pakistan, in the second half of the 19th century and 20th century. Ruled by the Busaid dynasty, it was established as a result of the partition of the Omani Empire upon the death of its last ruler Said ibn Sultan. The Sultanate transitioned into a new form of government after the palace coup of 23 July 1970 in which the sultan Said ibn Timur was immediately deposed in favor of his son Qaboos ibn Said.

Dhofar Liberation Front (DLF) was a communist front which was established to create a separatist state in Dhofar, the southern province of Oman, which shared a border with South Yemen.

The Royal Army of Oman is the ground forces component of the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces. It was founded in 1907 as the Muscat Garrison. It has a current strength of 35,000 personnel.

The Dhofar Rebellion, also known as the Dhofar War or the Omani Civil War, was waged from 1963 to 1976 in the province of Dhofar against the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The war began with the formation of the Dhofar Liberation Front, a group which aimed to create an independent state in Dhofar, free from the rule of the Omani Sultan Said bin Taimur. The rebels also held the broader goals of Arab nationalism which included ending British influence in the Persian Gulf region.

This page list topics related to Oman.

Mazoon bint Ahmad Ali Al-Mashani was the second wife of Sultan Said bin Taimur of Oman and the mother of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Said's first wife, Fatima Al-Mashani, was her cousin.

Sven Bergman is a Swedish investigative reporter/producer for the current affairs show "Uppdrag granskning" on SVT.

Internal Security Service transliterated:Jahaz al Amn al Dakhly, is the national security agency of the Sultanate of Oman. The agency focuses solely upon domestic security while foreign intelligence operations is specifically handled by the Palace Office, which controls external security and coordinates all intelligence and security policies.

Major General John David Carew Graham, was a British Army officer who was instrumental in the installation of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in the 1970 Omani coup d'état.

The Northern Frontier Regiment (NFR) was formed in March 1957 and was one of the first two properly constituted infantry regiments that Sultan Said bin Taimur of Oman formed. The regiment's crest is two crossed drawn traditional Khanjar daggers pointing downwards, with scrolls carrying the regimental title in Arabic i.e. Kateeba al Hudood al Shamleeah. Members of the Regiment who served in Dhofar are entitled to wear the General Service Medal Oman, its ribbon design illustrated on the right.

Musallam bin Nufl, was a key insurgent leadership figure of the Dhofar Liberation Front (DLF) which was the main rebel force in Southern Oman in the 1960s. He was also a senior member of an influential and large Dhofari desert tribe known as the Bait Kathir.

The 1970 Omani coup d'état was the bloodless overthrow of Sultan of Oman Said bin Taimur by his son Qaboos bin Said in Oman on 23 July 1970. Occurring in the midst of the Dhofar Rebellion, the palace coup was executed with the support of the British and saw Sultan Said bin Taimur deposed and sent into exile to the United Kingdom. The coup was a pivotal moment in modern Omani history as Qaboos swiftly set in motion numerous wide-ranging modernization reforms in the kingdom, transforming Oman from an underdeveloped backwater into a country on par with many Western nations in terms of political stability and economic development. At the time of his death in January 2020, Sultan Qaboos was the longest-serving ruler in the Middle East.

Tariq bin Taimur was a member of the Omani royal family who became president of the Council of Ministers of Oman.

References

↑ Daily Telegraph obituary 12 July 2007
↑ See "Uppdrag granskning" 20070220, 20070227 and 20080116 www.svt.se
↑ Interview with author John Besant "Uppdrag granskning" and "Dagens Eko" 20080116.
↑ Times Rich List

Timothy Landon

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