The New Sultan of Oman: Haitham Bin Tariq Al Said Sultan Qaboos chose Haitham Bin Tareq Al Saeed to lead Oman Published: January 11, 2020 10:50 Sara Al Shurafa, Assistant Online Editor 1 of 5 His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq bin Taimur Al Said was chosen as Sultan of Oman to succeed the late Sultan bin Qaboos bin Saeed who died Friday evening Image Credit: Supplied 2 of 5 Born in 1954, Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq was Minister of Heritage and Culture of the Sultanate of Oman. He is the cousin of Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed. Image Credit: Supplied 3 of 5 Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Bin Taimur Al Said served as a special envoy to the late Sultan Qaboos Bin Said on different occasions and held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs from 1986 to 1994, and later appointed as the Secretary General for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994–2002). In this picture, he is seen with His Highness Shaikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE. Image Credit: Supplied 4 of 5 A 1979 graduate of the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme. He was the first head of the Oman Football Association in the early 1980s and is known as a sports enthusiast. Image Credit: Supplied 5 of 5 Sultan Haitham is the Chairman of the committee for the future vision of "Oman 2040″. He is also the honorary president of the Oman Association for the Disabled and the honorary president of the "Omani-Japanese Friendship Association." Image Credit: Supplied