Oman Gas hike to Oman India Fertiliser Co. SAOC (Omifco)

Aman Malik,
aman.m@livemint.com

The government of Oman has refused to roll back its decision to raise by four times the price at which it sells gas to Oman India Fertiliser Co. SAOC (Omifco), according to people familiar with the development.

Oman is for different kind of travellers

By Sudipta Dev

The Sutanate of Oman is a perfect destination for different kind of a traveller – someone who has seen the world and now wants to enjoy a languid vacation amidst simple people and their simpler culture.

Maynamar Bngladesh maritime boundary dispute at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

Dhaka, Aug 26 (bdnews24.com)—A public hearing on the dispute over delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal will begin on Sept 8.

Reliance withdrawing from block 18 (an offshore oil exploration block in Oman)

Aug 23 (Reuters)

by Saleh Al-Shaibany, editing by Daniel Fineren

 India's Reliance Industries has abandoned plans to develop an offshore oil exploration block in Oman six years after signing a production sharing agreement with the government, an oil and gas ministry official said.

Fog may force Oman Aviation Services to compensate its passengers

NEW DELHI: Airlines are liable to compensate its passengers for delays caused due to bad weather even though there may be no deficiency of service on their part, a city consumer forum has held.

Oman Air plans to connect India with Zanzibar

By The Citizen Reporter and Agencies

Dar es Salaam. Oman Air, the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman plans to connect India with Zanzibar in from mid-next month a sign that shows increasing trade and business relations between India and Tanzania.

The government has of recent been wooing Indian investors and tourists as part of efforts to catch the gains from a rising global economic giant. The airline will initially operate three flights a week (Monday, Tuesday and Saturday) from Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai to Zanzibar via Muscat.

A Hindi radio station in Oman

 Mon Apr 11 2011, 11:10 hrs

The owner of several commercial radio stations in Oman has backed a Hindi radio station in the country as a new way to reach out to the Hindi-speaking expatriate community in the country.

Bangalore successfully performed a bone marrow transplant on Omani girl

Dubai, Dec 29, (PTI) :

A three-year-old girl in Oman, who was diagnosed with leukaemia six months back, has got a new lease of life after doctors in Bangalore successfully performed a bone marrow transplant on her.

A stranded Indian lady died in Muscat

An Indian housemaid, who was stranded in a transit lounge of Muscat airport for five days after losing her passport at

2,000-km-long deepwater transnational gas pipeline from Oman to India

20 Sep, 2010, 09.19PM IST,PTI

DUABI: India is actively considering building a 2,000-km-long deepwater transnational gas pipeline from Oman for transporting natural

Air India emergency landing at Muscat airport

Agence France-Presse

Muscat, August 20, 2010
 

An on-flight bomb scare that out to be a hoax forced an Air India passenger jet to make an emergency

Oman is interested in buying more F16

By Bob Cox

rcox@star-telegram.com

Lockheed Martin will someday build the last F-16 fighter jet at its Fort Worth plant, but that day is still years away.

Lockheed could be close to landing another foreign order for F-16s after the Defense Department notified Congress on Tuesday that the government of Oman requested permission to negotiate to buy 18 planes, weapons and other equipment worth about $3.5 billion.

It would be Oman's second F-16 purchase after taking delivery of the first of 12 in August 2005. Just a year ago Lockheed's F-16 order backlog was down to about 80 planes, and production was slated to end in 2012. But late last year, Egypt and Morocco each ordered 24 planes, extending the production line another year.

"I think we're into 2013, and 18 F-16s for Oman would extend the line until summer of 2014," Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said. The F-16 order backlog was 81 planes at the end of June.

The Oman deal still faces several hurdles. Congress has 30 days to veto the proposed sale. If that does not occur, the U.S. government would extend a formal offer to sell planes to Oman. Once that offer is accepted, Oman and Lockheed would negotiate terms of a sale.

The Block 50/52 model aircraft Lockheed is now building and delivering to most foreign customers is essentially on a par with the latest aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force.

In addition to the 18 planes, at cost of $60 million each, Oman would purchase weapons systems, radars, navigation and other electronics systems. It would also get upgraded components for its 12 existing F-16s.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which handles controlled weapons sales, said in its message to Congress that the proposed sale would not upset the military balance of power in the Middle East and would enable Oman to cooperate with U.S. and allied forces.

Lockheed delivered 31 F-16s last year. It is building about two a month, with 11 delivered in the first six months of 2010. Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia said it's conceivable that F-16 production could extend beyond 2015 or well beyond if a couple of large deals are consummated. "If you adjust [the price] for inflation, the F-16 is an incredibly good deal," he said.

Lockheed is pressing India to select the F-16 for an order of 126 multirole fighters the nation has been considering buying in a drawn-out procurement process. Taiwan would like to buy 66 new model F-16s, but both the Bush and Obama administrations have refused for fear of upsetting China.

Sales of the F-35 joint strike fighter were supposed to have sealed the fate of the F-16, but years of delays and soaring cost estimates could keep the F-16 production line going.

"The most interesting thing is Israel. Given the sticker shock they seem to be having about the F-35, they could decide to opt for a high-low mix of some F-35s and more F-16s," Aboulafia said.

He said Israel and other F-16 owners could decide to buy some additional jets over the next several years to replace their oldest planes.

Bob Cox, 817-390-7723

Published in

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/04/2384492/lockheeds-f-16-shows-resilience.html

The Japanese vessel incident near Oman is due to a freak wave, triggered by a small earthquake

28 July 2010 Last updated at 15:43 GMT

A Japanese oil tanker has been damaged in an incident in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman, injuring crew members.

An early report from the Japanese transport ministry said there had been an explosion on board the ship which could have been an attack. But a port official in the United Arab Emirates says the vessel was hit by a freak wave, triggered by a small earthquake.

There are no reports of any oil leaking from the tanker, the M Star. The vessel, with 16 Filipino and 15 Indian crew members on board, had been bound for Chiba port near Tokyo when the incident occurred.

Earthquake report

Several of the crew were injured in the incident, according to an official at the port of Fujairah in the UAE, where the ship was due to dock to have its damage assessed. "The cause of the incident was a freak wave and there is damage in the upper accommodation decks of the ship and a few injured people on board," he told Reuters news agency.

"The ship is not being tugged and there is no damage to the engine." Oman's coastguard cited "a tremor" as the cause of the incident. A seismologist in nearby Iran said an earthquake of magnitude 3.4 happened in Bandar Abbas.

Captains of other ships near the incident also mentioned the earthquake, Attollah Sadr, head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation, was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency. The Strait of Hormuz links the ports of oil-rich states such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait with export markets. About 40% of the world's traded oil passes through it.

The M Star was loaded with some two million barrels of crude oil when the incident occurred, said Japan's Mitsui OSK, which owns and operates the vessel. Earlier, Japan's transport ministry issued a statement saying an "explosion" had occurred at around 0030 local time (2030 GMT). "A crew member saw light on the horizon just before the explosion, so ship owner Mitsui OSK believes there is a possibility it was caused by an outside attack," the ministry had said.

Published in

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10786215

Laws on captured pirates

Page last updated at 12:06 GMT, Thursday, 6 May 2010 13:06 UK

Warships patrolling Indian Ocean waters off the Somali coast are enjoying greater success in capturing pirates - but the legal challenges posed by 21st Century piracy raises question on what to do with suspects after they have been caught

Isn't it the responsibility of the country whose navy apprehended the pirates to prosecute?

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as a universal crime and gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates. But whether a country wants to prosecute arrested pirates depends on its own law. Experts say that several countries do not know how to incorporate the convention into their own jurisdiction.

According to the report Fighting Piracy by Commander James Kraska and Captain Brian Wilson: "On the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of a state, such as Somalia's ungoverned territorial seas, any nation's warship may take action against piracy. Pirated ships may be boarded, the pirates can be detained and the property on board the vessel can be seized and submitted to admiralty and criminal courts. The registry or "flag" of the attacked vessel, the state of nationality of any of the victims or crew, the nationality of the on-scene warship, and, in some cases, coastal and port states, all have a valid basis for asserting jurisdiction. But it can take weeks or months to sort out these logistics and legal issues."

About 20 warships from the navies of half a dozen countries operating under US, European Union and Nato commands police the pirate-infested waters. Many have signed agreements with Kenya, enabling them to send apprehended pirates there for trial.

Why are many countries reluctant to prosecute?

Suspected pirates have been taken to the US, France and the Netherlands, among others, for prosecution. Russia is reportedly considering bringing a group of suspected pirates to Moscow for trial.

But maritime experts have pointed out that the length of time taken to bring some of those cases to trial indicates the complexities involved.

In some cases, legal arguments have centred on how long the suspects were kept in detention before either getting legal assistance or being charged - possibly violating the legal process of the countries involved.

Cyrus Mody from the International Maritime Bureau says the logistical and legal burdens involved in transporting pirate suspects to Western countries can be daunting.

"It is difficult getting the pieces together, the evidence, the witnesses. Who's going to pay for it all?

"And if a prosecution fails, the burden lies with that country. There is always the prospect that the suspected pirate might then claim asylum," he told the BBC.

In some cases, suspects are simply released after they have been disarmed because of the potential legal headaches.

Why do most of the arrested pirates end up in Kenya?

Kenya, which borders Somalia, has signed agreements with the European Union, the US, Britain, Canada, China and Denmark to prosecute and jail pirates. It has been promised financial aid in return.

There are more than 100 suspected pirates in custody, either awaiting, or already on trial. But the process is slow - lasting up to a year - and costly.

In May, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said Kenya was unwilling to take on any more prosecutions and was to review the agreements. He said some of the countries had failed to give adequate financial support to Kenya's strained justice system.

Mr Wetangula said a key problem was what would happen to the pirates after their jail terms were up.

What happens to the others?

Nato, Russia and India, among others, have not signed an agreement with Kenya and so their navies need to determine whether or not to bring the pirates home for trial or look for another Gulf of Aden littoral state to prosecute. This has proved difficult.

According to reports, the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles is emerging as the second regional centre for trying pirates seized by EU naval units. Working with the UN, the country recently amended its criminal code to enable it to prosecute pirates under universal jurisdiction.

The EU has also opened negotiations with other countries in the region, including South Africa and Tanzania, in the hope of reaching agreements enabling the prosecution of suspected pirates.

What about setting up an international court?

In April, the United Nations Security Council adopted a Russian proposal to consider the creation of a new court to deal with piracy. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be asked to report within three months on options for "a regional tribunal or an international tribunal and corresponding imprisonment arrangements".

Some experts have argued, however, that this option would be costly and judicially cumbersome. There is still the issue of where convicted pirates would be held.

Published in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8664623.stm

Omani War ship saves life at sea and USA Navy ship captures pirates

By Cindy Clayton

The Virginian-Pilot

© April 7, 2010

The Navy guided-missile destroyer McFaul has captured 10 pirates after an attack on a ship near Salalah, Oman.

The pirates pulled alongside the motor vessel Rising Sun on Tuesday and were firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, prompting the crew to send out a distress call, according to a news release from the U.S. Navy.

The Rising Sun’s crew increased its speed and used evasive maneuvers such as spraying the attackers with fire hoses, the release says.

The maneuvers worked and the pirates broke off their attack and returned to their mother ship, an Indian cargo dhow under their control.

The Oman Navy warship Al Sharquiyah arrived first on the scene, and as it approached the dhow, nine sailors who were being held hostage jumped into the water, the release says.

One of the sailors drowned, but the others were taken aboard the Omani Navy ship.

The McFaul arrived as the Omani crew was helping the sailors who escaped. The McFaul’s crew directed the pirates to surrender by putting their hands in the air and gathering on the bow of the seized dhow. As they complied, they could be seen throwing weapons overboard.

Two boarding teams from the McFaul took control of the dhow and detained the pirates, who were transferred to the U.S. destroyer Carney, where they will be held until they can be transferred for prosecution, the release says.

The surviving sailors who escaped their captors aboard the dhow were returned to the vessel, according to the U.S. Navy.

The McFaul is attached to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in support of maritime security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

The capture comes about a week after two other Navy ships encountered pirates near the Seychelles.

Late last week, the destroyer Farragut was called to the scene of a Sierra Leone-flagged tanker that came under attack by three pirate skiffs, according to a Navy news release. The Farragut is homeported in Mayport, Fla.

An SH-60 B Seahawk helicopter from the Farragut went to monitor the situation while the pirates’ skiffs were boarded. The crew of the Swedish patrol aircraft watched as the pirates threw equipment overboard. Eleven pirates were found aboard the skiffs and allowed to leave after coalition forces ensured they had no other equipment to conduct attacks.

The mother skiff was sunk.

On Thursday, the Norfolk-based frigate Nicholas took small-arms fire from suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned fire and captured five pirates.

Published in

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/norfolkbased-navy-ship-captures-pirates-gulf-oman

Committing suicide for “blood money”

November 29th, 2009

The National Newspaper (UAE), recently reported about an alarming rise in the number of suicides by migrant workers in Oman, according to hospital staff. Maryam Busaidy, a nurse at the Royal Hospital in Muscat told the paper that “It is not uncommon for the hospital to receive emergency cases of people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka, who make attempts to commit suicide… the sad thing is that they keep increasing all the time. Hardly any month passes without such a case.”

The report suggests that some of these workers are committing suicide so that their families in financial distress receive the “blood money” for them in the sum of 15,000 Omani riyals ($39,000). The money is paid to the families of people who die as a result of negligence, including car accidents.

Mr. Ramakrishnan, an Indian migrant worker whose friend committed suicide, said that the embassies can do more to help migrant workers in distress if they saw it as a priority.

Published in

http://www.migrant-rights.org/2009/11/29/rise-in-suicides-among-migrant-workers-in-oman/

Oman Denies Modi Visa

by Mirza A. Beg

(Wednesday, October 28, 2009)

 

_______________________________________________

"International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the National Human Rights Commission of India held Mr. Modi directly responsible for orchestrating that gory mob violence in which innocent Muslims were butchered, burnt alive and women gang raped."

_______________________________________________

 

Sometimes good guys also win. It happens only once in a while, but when it does, it gives hope to many who struggle against the evil perpetrated by the powerful, the rich and the connected.

Such is the case when some decent ordinary people with the support of many other decent people were able convince the Government of Oman to deny Mr. Modi a visa. It thwarted, Gujarat’s Chief Minister Mr. Modi from falsely projecting himself as a world trotting statesman and camouflaging his evil deeds.

Mr. Modi was elected the Chief Minister of Gujarat State in the western part of India, on the platform of a fascistic leaning Indian Peoples Party (Hindi initials BJP). It came to power in late 1990s. It got that chance because the Congress party that had governed India since independence from Britain in 1947, with only one break of four years, had become stale and the populace was tired. In that vacuum stepped in the right-wing BJP. It cashed in on its years of devious hard work, promoting sectarian riots and fear mongering in the well trodden footsteps of demagogues, albeit with an Indian patina. For years the BJP had engineered riots against the Muslim minorities, Christian evangelism and lower cast Indians. Finally it was able cash in on the fear it had planted among decent ordinary Hindus.

Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in February 2002, when a train carriage in which the BJP goons were traveling and harassing people on the railway station, was burnt at Godhra in Gujarat. To this day it has not been conclusively proven as to who did it. Instead of arresting those responsible for the event and bringing them to justice, he blamed Muslims, whom his party has been killing for years in contrived riots. The next day in the manner of Nazi “Krstallnacht” he unleashed a reign of terror and mayhem, by the goons of his party under the protection of his chosen police force, in the manner of Nazi SS.

As Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Modi presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in which about 2000 hapless Muslims were massacred and more than 200,000 were rendered homeless. It was internationally reported as a pogrom against the Muslim minority in Gujarat.

International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the National Human Rights Commission of India held Mr. Modi directly responsible for orchestrating that gory mob violence in which innocent Muslims were butchered, burnt alive and women gang raped.

Mr. Modi has also succeeded in corrupting and intimidating most of the judiciary in Gujarat. The criminals are protected by Mr. Modi’s police, while thousands of displaced Muslims are unable to return to their homes. The same gangsters also harass Christians and have burned their Churches.

The Supreme Court of India felt compelled to step in. It compared Mr. Modi with the infamous Roman Emperor Nero and ordered an especially constituted team from the Federal (Central) Government to investigate Mr. Modi’s crimes.

Though, his party has lost national power in two successive national elections of 2004 and 2009; unfortunately in the federal structure of India, states have power over law and order, just as the federal US government was hampered in the American South of1960s. Mr. Modi has succeeded in polarizing the normally decent people of Gujarat and has won elections to remain the Chief Minister in Gujarat. And because as often happens, fascistic demagogues are efficient, Mr. Modi is indeed efficient and has brought businesses to Gujarat supported by some among the rich diaspora of Guajaratis from the US.

Now that his party is in decline in the rest of India, he has been trying mightily to project himself as a world class leader with an eye on gaining national leadership. With a well-deserved harvest of global condemnation haunting him, Mr. Modi is desperately courting foreign collaboration to mend his image to achieve political restitution in India.

Fortunately, because of the efforts of those who value the Gandhian tradition of India, Indians from all religions and ethnic groups came together, petitioned and convinced the US State department to deny Mr. Modi the coveted visa, not only once but twice in three years.

Spurned by the US and some Western countries, he aimed at developing contacts with the rich Gulf Emirates. Mr. Modi nefariously planted stories of being invited by the Sultanate of Oman. Again some concerned people took it upon themselves to circulate a petition on line. Again many human rights organizations all over the world, but most importantly from India extended their full support. Many wrote personal letters to the Ambassador and the government of Oman.

In response, not only the Ambassador of Oman in India refused the visa, but took out an advertisement in a well respected national newspaper, Indian Express, stating that the Sultanate of Oman had not invited Mr. Modi to Oman.

To Mr. Modi’s discomfort, the news is reverberating though the Indian press and has even been picked up by the international web based media. (It can easily be searched on Google, “Modi denied Visa to Oman”). It puts his efforts towards gaining coveted visas from Indonesia that he has been working on, and visa from many other countries in jeopardy.

Though, it is only a small victory for decency, and not much help to those who perished in the Mayhem engineered by Mr. Modi in Gujarat, but it does give incentive to average people. They can make a difference. All they have to do is, try.

Source:

by courtesy & © 2009 Mirza A. Beg

Published in

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/67736

Oman Embassy in India has been requested to stop Gujarat Chief Minister visit

Submitted by admin3 on 23 October 2009 - 10:47pm.

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,

New Delhi: The New Delhi Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman has been filed with a public petition urging their government to rescind the likly visit of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Oman later this year.

The petitioners have reminded the Oman Embassy and their government that Modi is being investigated for his role in the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat in which thousands of innocents were killed with the help of government machinery.

Due to global condemnation due to the pogrom, “Mr. Modi is desperately courting foreign investments and collaboration to mend his image as a progressive in an effort towards a political restitution. The U.S. and many countries in Europe have banned his entry, by denying him visa. The question is - Will Oman and other Muslim nations of the Gulf region offer Mr. Modi that restitution, by legitimizing his record of promoting hatred and violence against the minority Muslims and Christians of Gujarat,” asked the petition sent to the New Delhi Embassy of Oman.

“We the signatories to this petition humbly request your government to reconsider the invitation extended to the Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Modi, as a mark of respect for humane values enshrined in all religions and the declaration of universal human rights under the UN Charter.”

“We sincerely hope that with your leadership the Sultanate of Oman and other Gulf States will use their influence to ensure justice for the suffering Muslims and Christians of Gujarat. It will be very helpful if the invitation of to Mr. Modi is rescinded and all investments and collaborations with the Gujarat government are made contingent on the justice to the innocent victims of the Gujarat Massacre,” the petition reads.

Recalling the 2002 pogrom, the petition said: In February-March 2002, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Modi presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in which about 2000 hapless Muslims were massacred and more than 200,000 were rendered homeless. It was widely reported as a pogrom against the Muslim minority in Gujarat.

As a reproach, the Indian Supreme Court compared Mr. Modi with the infamous Roman Emperor Nero. International human rights organizations, including the Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, held him directly responsible for orchestrating that gory mob violence in which about 2000 innocent Muslims were butchered, burnt alive and many women were gang-raped.

The petitioners have put the petition online for people to visit and sign it to build up pressure on the Oman government to cancel Modi’s visit.

Link of petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/modi2009/petition.html

Meanwhile, the Government of Oman in an advertisement published in The Hindu and Asian Age today has clarified that Modi has been invited by a private company and government of Oman has nothing to do with the visit. But petitioners have refused the clarification.

“The clarification is a plain lie. Modi was invited by Oman’s minister of trade. He was not leading a private company. Moreover, the visa issuing authority is also not private. And lastly he was never given visa even for private visits in US and UK,” one of the signatories to the petition told TCN

Published in

http://twocircles.net/2009oct23/oman_embassy_india_petitioned_rescind_modi_s_visit_oman.html

Swine flu cases in Oman now to 323

13 August 2009

MUSCAT — The count of Swine Flu cases in Oman has swelled by nearly 90 in the last three days to cross 300, officials of the Health Ministry said, adding that they expect the figure to rise rapidly in the coming weeks. The ministry also clarified that there had been no deaths from H1N1 in 
the country.

“Eight-nine new cases have been reported from around the country. The total number of affected people (in Oman) now is 323,” a spokesman for the ministry told Khaleej Times on Wednesday after a meeting of the H1N1 Control and 
Follow-up Committee.

He said the authorities were bracing for a steady increase in H1N1 patients in the Sultanate as the outbreak spread to more and more countries around 
the world.

The condition of all the patients, including six in hospital, are “stable,” he added, urging the public not to be misled by rumours and “take information only from the right sources.” He was referring to unconfirmed reports in recent days that a Swine Flu patient had died in Oman.

The spokesman said the ministry was in talks with the Education Ministry on how to tackle the situation when Omani schools reopen on August 29 after the summer holidays.

The government is yet to make clear whether it was going ahead with the original schedule or postpone resumption of classes in the more than 1,000 state-run schools across the country. A decision is 
expected shortly.

On Tuesday, following an outbreak of the disease among its students, the Indian School Muscat (ISM), announced that it would be closed for 10 days from Wednesday following demands from parents.

Four students of the school have tested positive for H1N1 and the school authorities said the suspension of classes was meant to contain the spread of the disease.

ISM is Oman’s largest Indian school with 7,682 students. The other 14 Indian schools in the country have not reported any cases so far. School Principal Achuthan Madhav advised students to avoid groups and “minimise visits to shopping malls and cinemas.”

They must seek “immediate advice in case of any flu like symptoms such as fever, cough, head ache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and running nose, vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea or giddiness,” he added.

ravindranath@khaleejtimes.com

Published in

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2009/August/middleeast_August304.xml&section=middleeast

Oman Extends Airport tender deadline

Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:11pm IST

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Oman has extended until Aug. 31 a deadline for international firms, including French Vinci and Indian Larsen & Toubro, to bid for the construction of a new terminal at Muscat's main airport.

"Bidders need more time to prepare for the new changes," an Oman tender board official told Reuters on Tuesday, adding bids will be opened on Aug. 31.

The tender, which contractors say is worth about $1.4 billion, has already been pushed back twice this year.

In February, Oman shortlisted six firms including Bechtel, the largest U.S. engineering firm, Saudi Binladen Group, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Co (CCC) and Joannou & Paraskevaides from Cyprus, to build the terminal for the country's main airport.

Oman has already awarded a joint venture of Turkey's TAV Construction and CCC a $1.17 billion contract for civil works at the airport.

The airport currently handles about 4 million passengers a year and will host 12 million passengers when both expansions are completed.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Published in

http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-41680820090811