National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf
الجبهة الوطنية الديمقراطية لتحرير عمان والخليج العربي
Founded1969
DissolvedDecember 1971
Merged intoPFLOAG
IdeologyArab nationalism
Ba'athism

The National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (Arabic: الجبهة الوطنية الديمقراطية لتحرير عمان والخليج العربي, abbreviated NDFLOAG) was a guerrilla movement in the Arabian peninsula.

NDFLOAG was formed in Iraq in 1969 by Omani students (primarily studying in Kuwait) and other emigrees. Some had been members of left-wing organizations (such as the Arab Nationalist Movement), others were hitherto unorganized opponents of the Omani government.[1][2][3] In difference to the other, larger, rural guerrilla movement Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG), NDFLOAG was predominantly an urban movement. NDFLOAG was supported by urban intellectuals. Ideologically, PFLOAG was Marxist whilst NDFLOAG was Ba'ath-oriented.[4] When it was publicly launched, NDFLOAG had branches in different towns in Oman and in most of the other parts of the Persian Gulf.[1][4][5]

NDFLOAG began guerrilla operations in northern Oman on June 12, 1970 attacking garrisons at the towns of Izki and Nizwa with mortars. Both attacks failed. The attack on a SAF army post outside Izki was repelled, and the entire unit was either killed or captured. Afterwards several arrests were made, based on testimonies from prisoners from the Izki raid, and three NDFLOAG arms caches in Muti, Sur and Matrah had been stored was seized by the state forces. These crack-downs lead to a temporary ceasing of NDFLOAG activities in Oman. The group continued to organize outside Oman.[6][7]

Although the June 12, 1970 attacks had been fought off, they functioned as a catalyst for the groups that conspired against the Sultan Said bin Taimur (which soon thereafter led to the overthrow of the Sultan by his son Qaboos bin Said, with British support).[1][5][6][8] The attacks had caught SAF by surprise, and the attacks contributed to the perception that Said bin Taimur was unable to defeat the insurgency.[2]

In 1971, having suffered military setbacks, NDFLOAG began seeking cooperation with PFLOAG.[4] In December 1971 NDFLOAG and PFLOAG merged, forming the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf,[9][10] although the two groups retained separate organizational structures.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Allen, Calvin H., and W. Lynn Rigsbee. Oman Under Qaboos: From Coup to Constitution, 1970–1996. London: Frank Cass, 2000. p. 28
  2. ^ a b Jim White. "Oman 1965-1976: From Certain Defeat to Decisive Victory", Small Wars Journal.
  3. ^ Halliday, Fred. Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967–1987. Cambridge Middle East library, 21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. p. 144
  4. ^ a b c d Abir, Mordechai. Oil, Power and Politics: Conflict in Arabia, the Red Sea and the Gulf. London: Cass, 1974. pp. 12-13, 69
  5. ^ a b Peterson, John. Oman in the Twentieth Century: Political Foundations of an Emerging State. London: Croom Helm, 1978. p. 189
  6. ^ a b Townsend, John. Oman: The Making of a Modern State. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977. p. 74
  7. ^ Beckett, I. F. W., and John Pimlott. Armed Forces & Modern Counter-Insurgency. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. p. 30
  8. ^ Safran, Nadav. Saudi Arabia: The Ceaseless Quest for Security. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985. p. 129
  9. ^ Allen, Calvin H., and W. Lynn Rigsbee. Oman Under Qaboos: From Coup to Constitution, 1970–1996. London: Frank Cass, 2000. p. 69
  10. ^ Shichor, Yitzhak. The Middle East in China's Foreign Policy, 1949–1977. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. p. 153
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