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A quiet, leafy street next to the sea in the upmarket suburb of Shati al Qurum, Greater Muscat, is home to the embassies and high commissions with which Oman might be reckoned to have the closest diplomatic ties. Perhaps those countries also have the wherewithal to pay the rent. At the western end is the French embassy, the architecture of which reminds one of Charles de Gaulle airport or the Pompidou Centre in Paris. At the other end of the street is the British Embassy. The British were a late arrival at this location, in early 1995 to be exact, having been obliged to quit their previous quarters in old Muscat, which was next door to the Qasr al-Alam palace.

As I recall from my only visit when singing carols there with the Muscat Singers in 1993 or 1994, the Muscat residence was in the style of an old Arab mansion, about 3 stories tall, with high ceilings, a grand staircase, an open courtyard with a fountain, wooden gates and a magnificent view of Muscat Harbour from the terrace.

The style of construction would presumably have favoured the hint of a breeze during the suffocatingly hot Muscat summers. I was able to read about the old embassy building and the association of the British with Oman at the British Embassy website

At any rate, the Muscat residence was quite 'new' having been built in 1890 after the previous property had been demolished. Even so, the 1890 building had been condemned as unsafe on several occasions before being rescued by face-lifts and improvements. Finally, the land was sold to HM the Sultan for expansion of the palace. The Diwan of the Royal Court has rased the old building and are building new offices.

By the way, while doing a quick Google for "British Embassy" Muscat, to try and check a date for its advent to Shati al Qurum, I chose, for better or worse, this link, which appeared at number five on the first page:
"©2003 by Centre for British Expats Overseas. Not any longer affiliated with the British Government. Looking for interracial sex? Click for interracial sex. Looking for real estate marketing tools? Click for real estate marketing tools. Looking for shemale dating? Click for shemale dating. Worldwide rights reserved."

Absolutely true as of today's date.

The new British Embassy reminds me a bit of a pile of lego, or white concrete blocks stuck to each other. Security is tight but discreet. In between the British and French embassies lie those of the Gulf countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Republic of Egypt. Each of these edifices is unique in its architectural style, more elegant, to a greater or lesser degree, than the European missions.

But there is one I have not mentioned. A small wadi carves through the plain dividing the British embassy from the Embassy of the United States of America. No attempt has been made to beautify this building. A series of fortified walls, gates, barbed wire, and a phalanx of US marines leave no-one in doubt that the Americans take their security very seriously. Ten or twelve years ago, it had been possible to drive along the side of the wadi to the beach, but this avenue has now been closed off.

It takes a little while to get inside, after you go through the various barriers and metal detectors. I know, because I occasionally went to visit the library there. It's not what I would call a busy thoroughfare, which is perhaps fortunate, or else it could take longer than one would wish to gain admission. Yet another policy has been announced this week which will deter would-be visitors. The Embassy will only process visas for visiting the USA through online applications after March 1st, and will accept neither hand-written nor type-written forms. Times of Oman

For the last few days, the Times of Oman has had an annoying, blinking advert on its home page, "Live and Work in the USA: if flashing, you are eligible to participate in the official Green Card Lottery Program!" I clicked the link. Other people must be clicking this link too. Unbelievably, the website that appears bears a strong resemblance to a United States government website, but I don't believe it is really anything of the sort. Instead, you are urged to enter your email address in the lottery. I'd be more inclined to think that this is a scam to harvest email addresses from unsuspecting punters for spam purposes. Who knows if there is a request for money at a later stage?

I checked WHOIS.

Registrant Name:Domain Manager
Registrant Organization:USAFIS Organization DSNR
Registrant Street1:2565 Browadway 520
Registrant City:New York
Registrant State/Province:NY
Registrant Postal Code:10025
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.8666046385
Registrant Email:domain@usafis.org

To be fair, the small print at the bottom of the page does say that the organisation is not linked in any way to the US government, which is confirmed if you take the time to read the terms of use agreement. The waters are even further muddied by a claim that the US State Department runs a similar lottery.

On another and yet perhaps related note, the Washington Post published an article last week describing Condoleeza Rice's shake-up of the US diplomatic corps. Instead of moving to coveted posts in European cities this summer, an initial group of 100 will be transferred to Asia, to countries such as India, China and Lebanon. Apparently, there are over 200 major cities in the world with population of over 1 million, without American representation. This is the US administration's new policy of "'transformational diplomacy,'" which attempts 'to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.'" The new policy, or rather, the revision of postings, is causing 'some distress' amongst diplomatic staff.