The Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (in ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير عُمان, al-Jabha aš-Šaʿbiyya li-Taḥrīr ʿUmān, PFLO) was a

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

and

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and ...

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

ary organisation in the Sultanate of

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

. It fought against the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

(ruler) in the

Dhofar Rebellion 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 ...

from the PFLO's foundation until the suppression of the

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

in 1976.

Background

The main forerunner of the PFLO was the Dhofar Liberation Front (جبهة تحرير ظفار - ''Jabhat Tahrir Dhofar'', DLF) which was based in Dhofar, the southern province of Oman. It was founded in 1962 by the Dhofar Benevolent Society (DBS), the Dhofar Soldiers’ Organisation (DSO) and the local branch of the

Arab Nationalist Movement The Arab Nationalist Movement ( ar, حركة القوميين العرب, ''Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab''), also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Ara ...

(ANM) and began armed struggle in June 1965.

Formation of the Popular Front

In September 1968 the DLF was renamed the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (''al-Jabha al-Sha'abiya li-Tahrir al-Khalij al-'Arabi al-Muhtall'', PFLOAG). Its members were inclined towards the leftist, Marxist-Leninist tendency in the ANM, and were also influenced by the revolutionary experience of neighbouring

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

. In June 1970 the

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

(''al-Jabha al-Wataniya al-Dimuqratiya li-Tahrir 'Uman wa-l-Khalij al-'Arabi'', NDFLOAG) was founded in the north of Oman. It merged with the PFLOAG in December 1971. The new organisation was called

Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf The Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الخليج العربي المحتل, abbreviated PFLOAG), later renamed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian ...

(''al-Jabhah al-Sha'abiyah li-Tahrir 'Uman wa-al-Khalij al-'Arabi'', PFLOAG). By 1973 reports surged that PFLOAG had formed clandestine cells within the UAE armed forces.''The Gulf: Revolutionary Activity Spreads; U.S. and Clients Worried''. MERIP Reports, No. 19. (Aug., 1973), p. 17. The group took its later name, PFLO, in 1974 when the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain The Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير البحرين) was an underground political party in Bahrain with origins in the Arab Nationalist Movement. Its members were inclined towards the le ...

(PFLB) was established as a separate organisation. The PFLO appears to have maintained some underground activity afterwards. The youth wing of PFLO was the Oman Youth Organization, and it published the Uman al-Thawrah''

The Dhofar Rebellion

Upon its establishment, the PFLOAG became involved in the ongoing

Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah G ...

rebellion against Sultan Sa'id. It suffered a split in 1970 when some of its more right-wing members decided to accept the offer of an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

from the newly enthroned

Sultan Qaboos Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

. The new ruler was successful in pacifying most of Dhofar, with the help of considerable military and financial aid from the Western bloc, and by 1976 the rebellion was at an end.

The PFLO After 1976

In 1992, the party was renamed to People's Democratic Front of Oman (''al-Jabhah al-Sha'abiyah al-Dimuqratiyah al-'Umaniyah'', PDFO) which struggles peacefully for

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...

. Its secretary general in 1992 was

Abdul Aziz al-Qadi Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...

Sources

Omania.net discussion board (in Arabic)Nadyelfikr.net discussion board (in Arabic)
OnWar.com, December 16, 2000

References

{{Authority control 1974 establishments in Oman 1992 disestablishments in Oman Arab nationalism in Oman Arab nationalist militant groups Arab Nationalist Movement Arab socialist organizations Communist parties in Oman Dhofar Rebellion Defunct organizations based in Oman National liberation movements Political parties disestablished in 1992 Political parties established in 1974 Popular fronts Paramilitary organizations based in Oman