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 Gulf ( ar, links=no, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير عُمان والخليج العربي), was a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

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 an ...

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 active in an armed struggle against the Arab monarchies in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

. The organization was dedicated to overthrow all monarchies in Arabia culminating 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 ...

against 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 t ...

. The PFLOAG was organized in 1968 as the successor to the

Dhofar Liberation Front Dhofar Liberation Front (DLF) ( ar, جبهة تحرير ظفار) was a communist front that was established to create a separatist state in Dhofar, the southern province of Oman, which shared a border with South Yemen. The DLF was established b ...

. The program adopted was strongly tinged with communism. Its aim was to establish a "democratic people's republic" and to expel the British army from Oman. The Front sought to establish a constitution, abolish martial law, restore freedom of the press and expression and ensure the rights of minorities. On economic issues, it intends to nationalize the oil companies, develop industries and implement land reform. The Front calls for more social justice and affirms its support for all Asian, African and Latin American liberation movements. References are also made to the Palestinian struggle. The rebels open schools to which both boys and girls have access (girls' education was forbidden in Oman until 1970). Tribalism was fought against and social relations tended to evolve, with a specific place given to women, including in the armed struggle. Having close relations to the government of

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 ...

, the PFLOAG opened an office there. With South Yemeni support, PFLOAG guerrillas were able to seize control over large sections of western

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 Gov ...

. In August 1969 PFLOAG captured the town of

Rakhyut Rakhyut ( ar, رخيوت, Rakhyūt) is a '' Wilayat'' of Dhofar in the Sultanate of Oman. History In 1908, J.G. Lorimer recorded Rakhyut in his ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia'' (nic ...

. The PFLO leadership pledged to continue on the “trail of struggle”, as Al-Ghassani put it in an address on June 9, 1978, that marked the thirteenth anniversary of the revolution:

We are committing ourselves to fight alongside our Omani people in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula against the ambitions of
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
and Iranian expansion

In 1974 the organization was divided into two separate bodies: the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman 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 and Arab nationalist revolutionary organisation in the Sultanate of Oman. ...

and 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 ...

.Halliday, Fred.
Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967–1987
'. Cambridge Middle East library, 21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. p. 144.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popular Front For The Liberation Of The Occupied Arabian Gulf Arab nationalism in Bahrain Arab nationalism in Oman Arab nationalism in Yemen Arab nationalist militant groups Arab Nationalist Movement Communism in Bahrain Communism in Oman Communism in Yemen Dhofar Rebellion National liberation movements Popular fronts South Yemen Paramilitary organizations based in Oman