Soldiers have dispersed a small group of demonstrators who had gathered for the fourth day of protests in the port city of Sohar in Oman.

Read our news file

One person was wounded after shots were fired into the air. The crowd dispersed only to regroup at a roundabout near the port.

They had also gathered on Monday and blocked the entrance to the port, which exports 160,000 barrels of refined oil products every day.

It is a rare outbreak of discontent in the normally sleepy country, and follows the pattern of anti-government protests across the Arab world in recent weeks.

Yesterday, the Sultan of Oman promised a raft of measures aimed at tackling unemployment and inequality.