>> bin sulaiman: yes, for the whole country.. >> anthony: and what happened outside of muscat was really of no concern to leadership. >> bin sulaiman: absolutely, yes. ♪ >> anthony: vo sheikh bin sulaiman al ghafri is a businessman and the son of a tribal leader. he's the kind of guy who will likely be prominent in the future of the country. >> anthony: the current sultan replaced his father and took the country really from the 19th century into the 20th century very, very quickly. >> bin sulaiman: absolutely, his majesty took over and he changed, you know, the whole scene. >> anthony: this is not a democracy but everybody, everybody it seems has genuine affection and respect for the sultan. [ speaking in arabic ] >> anthony: sultan qaboos bin said al said is the much admired and enigmatic absolute ruler and monarch. he's presided over everything omani for the last 467 years. in that time he has raised the nation, literally, from a dusty primitive backwater to a modern, functioning, largely secular society. >> bin sulaiman: his