Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood AlBusaidi

Early life

Sayyid Badr was born in Muscat on 30 May 1960. He is the second son of Sayyid Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, who worked under Sultan Said bin Taimur and Sultan Qaboos.

During the 1960s, the elder Sayyid Badr was the private secretary of Said bin Taimur, who lived exclusively in Salalah. During this time the family lived in the Salalah palace compounds.

In 1970 Sultan Qaboos succeeded his father and made his residence in Muscat. Sayyid Hamad moved the family to Muscat in order to assist the new sultan in the development of a modern administration; he held the position of Minister of Diwan (Court) Affairs, managing the relations between the Sultan and the citizens, until 1986. From 1986 until his death in 2002, Sayyid Hamad was personal adviser to Qaboos.

Education

Sayyid Badr received his early education in the Saideyya schools and in Muscat and Salalah. He left for the United Kingdom in 1977 to pursue his further education, and he spent his first months in Wales with a private tutor. He relocated to London in spring 1978 and worked with a team of tutors for three years. This experience enabled Sayyid Badr to gain the necessary grades in the British Secondary School Examinations to win a place at Oxford, where he was awarded an M.Litt in politics, philosophy and economics in 1986.

Corporate career

Sayyid Badr took over the helm of the family business, SABCO, after the death of his elder brother, Sami, in 1988. He remained in that position until 2000, when the pressures of official work and the need to separate public responsibilities and private interests led him to relinquish all his private appointments.

Marriage

In 1979 Sayyid Badr married Noora bint Abdullah bin Mahawish Al Daher. formerly a Saudi Arabian but now an Omani national. The marriage ended in divorce in 1993. His ex-wife sued The Ritz Carlton after losing 2 Million in gambling. Their children are:

1. Sayyid Nasr bin Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, son
2. Sayyida Asila bint Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, daughter
3. Sayyida Salsabeel bint Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, daughter
4. Sayyida Mazan bint Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, daughter

Diplomatic career

Upon Sayyid Badr’s return to Muscat 1988, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat. In 1989 he was appointed as the first secretary, and he established the Office of Political Analysis. In 1990 he was promoted to councillor, and in 1996 he was promoted to ambassador. In 1997 Sayyid Badr was appointed the head in the Minister's Office Department. In 2000 he was promoted to undersecretary, and then subsequently to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Institutional affiliation