Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf

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POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE OCCUPIED ARABIAN GULF

Marxist, antigovernment organization of southern Oman (1968 to 1971).

The Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) was organized in 1968 as the successor to the Dhufar Liberation Front, a largely tribal group attempting to overthrow the rule of Saʿid ibn Taymur Al Bu Saʿid's dynasty in Oman's southernmost province. PFLOAG not only aimed to enlarge the scope of the rebellion, but gave it a radical, Marxist orientation and tried to impose a collectivist regime where its forces were in control. With financial support and weaponry from Iraq, the People's Republic of China, and the Soviet Union as well as a secure base in neighboring Marxist South Yemen (People's Democratic Republic of Yemen), the front took most of Dhufar from the shaky regime of Sultan Saʿid. The accession of his son, Qabus ibn Saʿid Al Bu Saʿid, by coup in July 1970, turned the situation around, with the considerable foreign military assistance from Great Britain and Iran playing a key role. Well-funded civil action programs helped secure the loyalty of a population little drawn to PFLOAG's anti-Islamic ideology. In December 1971 it absorbed the National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf (NDFLOAG) and assumed its second identity as Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf with acronym unchanged. In May 1974, after serious reverses, those favoring continued military action formed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO). By 1976 Dhufar was completely and securely in government hands.