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9th February 2012, 05:49 PM
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#1 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Salaams all,
After months of searching I now have the UAE Khanjar I have been looking for. The Khanjar was probably made in the Dhakiliyya (Interior of Oman at S'nau) It answers several questions as to the origin of the hilt. This Khanjar was retained by a family for several generations and on interogation it appears that it could be between 150 and 200 years old. The wear to the pins in the hilt and the crown bears this out though like most old khanjars we would expect to see some more recent work in the form of replacement belt wire at the rings and possibly less aged two main hilt pins and a wrap round hilt sleeve both gold wash over silver though these are not new... perhaps 50 years. The silver stitched leather over the lower scabbard is original and classic to type. Blade. Excellent home grown Omani Blade held in with pitch. Belt. 4 huge rings comprise the belt. Occasionally the inner two are shevron shaped though it is just as common to have roundels as shown here. Hilt. The shape weight and design are classic. The hilt is translucent at the edges. Rhino. Common term Z'raff. Name of animal~ common term; Wahid al Garn (One Horn). The Giraffe (Ziraffah) which sounds like Z'raff in the groups of people questioned is not a source of dagger hilt horn. It was supposed that perhaps the hoof of the Giraffe(Ziraffah) was used. This is not proven moreover it appears that the terminology has become twisted with a simple linguistic mix up of the two words thereby confusing the Rhino with the Giraffe. The hilt pictured is Rhino "Wahid al Garn" (One Horn).The material is called Z'raff. Rhino Horn. Wheras there appears to be evidence on Forum search of Giraffe Hoof being used in Ottoman sword hilts I have found no proof to the same material being used on Omani Khanjars... yet. Hilt Pins ~ I have counted more than 1000 silver pins hammered into the hilt. This is a heavyweight amongst Khanjars weighing in at more than three quarters of a kilo (800 gram) With a good belt etc it would place almost one and a half kilos on the waist ! This is an Al Rumaithi Khanjar, (UAE) Circa 1850. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 9th February 2012 at 06:18 PM. |
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13th February 2012, 05:35 PM
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#2 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Salaams; Note to Forum; Type into Search ~ Somewhat Unusual Omani Khanjar for Comment for a look at scabbard silver stitching. Regards Ibrahiim al Balooshi.
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16th February 2012, 11:00 AM
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#3 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Workshop.
Salaams all~ For the Research Library~ heres a few shots of a workshop that produces fabulous quality... on the floor !! This is the maker of some of the best Omani Khanjars ever...
 Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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22nd February 2012, 10:14 AM
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#4 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Salaams All~ Note to Forum. The Khanjar Blade. (naslah).
This remarkable piece of engineering is around 17 or 18 cms long and 5 to 6 cms broad at the throat tapering to a point along a curved, two edged, centrally ridged on both sides, steel blade. The ridge gives strength for thrusting and withdrawing the blade. Cheap imported blades are two joined together whereas a proper Omani blade joins along the ridges. The little furnace about half the size of a football, is wood fuelled and heat is increased by use of hand bellows. The best blades were made by a peculiar and historically virtually unrecorded group of itinerant Gypsy like folk called Zuttoot... or Zutti covered in my other post at length.See Kattara for comments #165. In days of old these small bands travelled about Oman doing tinning of utensils, making tools and sword and Khanjar blades...on commission and at random. The blade is all important to local gentlemen and when inspecting a Khanjar they will ponder the blade first and foremost... not the scabbard or hilt. Often they take up the dagger with hilt in thumb and first 2 fingers by the very point only and lift it vertically... If they can easily lift it ... its a duffer ! If it slips from the fingers then its quality... weight, balance and blade metal quaility are observed most carefully.. According to Richardson and Dorr (The Craft Herrritage of Oman) The bedouin say that the best metal ore for blades is found in thunder storms where the lightening strikes! One of the amazing ways in which they decide on blade quality is by tasting the blade? Glue. To fix the blade, Lakk is used (Tachardia Lacca ) from an insect secretion. Essentially it looks like small blocks/ sheets of black pitch and is imported from India and Pakistan. The molten pitch-like lakk is poured into the hilts cuff(tuq) and the heated blade is sturdily pressed home. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 22nd February 2012 at 11:07 AM. |
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22nd February 2012, 12:36 PM
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#5 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Posts: 295
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Salaam Ibrahim!
I notice that your old khanjar has a blade shape that is much more a gradual curve than many that I have seen, which look almost 'angular' in the way the blade bends. Is that a mark of age?
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22nd February 2012, 01:49 PM
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#6 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Quote:
An interesting question remains over the reason for the bend in the Omani Khanjar scabbard ~ Why is it thus bent? at about 90 degrees? I always thought it was design and balance. It appears to have a hidden meaning though I am told I can discover the real reason by lining a certain "in the know" dealers hand with silver... It had better be a decent story !  Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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22nd February 2012, 04:45 PM
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#7 |
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: switzerland
Posts: 298
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Hi
I have a question. Why is it called again and another time Jambiya Khanjar? I always thought the Arabic curved daggers caled Jambiya , North African Koummya and Indo-Persian and Ottoman Khanjar. is always a different word with the same meaning? ask for clarification. then i can show my curved daggers! smile greeting Chregu |
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19th June 2012, 07:30 PM
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#8 | |
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 41
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How to Re-seat Omani Khanjar Blade in Hilt?
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I recently purchased a beautiful Omani Khanjar, only to have the blade promptly fall out the moment I unsheathed it. Apparently, the resin or lakk has become brittle over time, and cracked. When the blade dropped out, chunks of the resin and powdery crumbs came showering down. My question: How best can I re-seat this blade into the hilt? I cannot afford to import insect resin from Pakistan, so I was thinking a good, solid resin-based epoxy glue might be OK. (I'm trying to stay authentic on this). Also, what's the best cleaning agent for the exterior trim on the scabbard? Mine is quite tarnished or dirty, not at all like the photos on e-____ where I bought it. Thank you for your time and help on this. Sincerely, John Fogarty novelsrus@indy.rr.com |
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22nd June 2012, 06:23 AM
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#9 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Quote:
Salaams NovelsRus ~ That happens a lot as the lac dries out. Use epoxy as you say... I see no problem with that . Some people even use tar off the road ! Naturally we use the proper pucker lac but frankly you will get a better fix with epoxy. The good thing about lac is its easy to replace a blade and that happens a lot as local owners of Khanjars often look to upgrade blades or hilts. For cleaning the silver there are some good silver polish products like Silvo and other quite good silver polish liquids... they all pretty well work ok... we use the old method of burnishing and polish with a brass bristled brush ~ Another way is with toothpaste ... it works very well. Scrub the whole thing or the part you want to clean and wash off the residue and oxide with water... dry and buff... Marvellous. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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23rd June 2012, 03:00 AM
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#10 |
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 41
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Toothbrush To the Rescue!
Salaams, Ibrahiim,
What an incredible coincidence -- you advised use of toothbrush and paste, which is precisely what I stumbled upon myself, just yesterday. Great minds thinking alike, etc. Actually dug out a lot of the broken resin, then heated the back of the blade red-hot over a fire in my ashtray, jammed the back of the blade into the remaining resin and -- viola! It seated itself! To be safe, I did line the new seal with epoxy, let it cure for a day, then drilled it down far enough so the hilt could fit onto the scabbard (which is sparkling cleaning and brand spanking new, thanks to the ol' toothbrush - n - silver cream polish treatment!) Result? The little khanjar shines, is functional and beautiful. Even though the seller offered to refund our purchase price, I chose to keep it and repair it. Now my wife no longer gives me The Look....you know the one.  Only problem now is, where to hang it? (Please see pics attached) * Above the big Scimitar? * Above the Koummyas? * Or leave it in its current spot? * Right below the flag from my father's coffin (WWII Vet)? And HOW to hang it on a wall without damaging the khanjar or the belt? Hmmmm.... Any ideas greatly appreciated. All best, JRF |
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1st July 2012, 03:13 PM
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#11 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Salaams, Note to Forum;
Another Baatina design, Showing a slightly smaller size to the normal Omani Khanjar. Rhino hilt with several hundred silver pins hammered in for design and weight. The top silver hilt button snapped off. Eye of the Bedouin style pattern stitching below the belt section. Fine work behind the scenes especially in the hilt. The blade should be viewed with the eye but to hand a sprig of nutmeg, cloves, tyme, frankinsence since that is what a good blade smells of .. as does this one ~ and struck with a flicked finger the sound is of striking thick iron not thin tin. There is no ring, just a thud! Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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20th October 2016, 11:48 AM
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#12 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,430
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Quote:
I decided to read through some of the Omani threads and am interested in this subject - the manufacture of khanjar blades. It has puzzled me a bit, even when I was in Oman over 40 years ago. Can you concisely advise :- In the historic period (say pre-1950) :- Was iron smelting for khanjar blade manufacture ever done in Oman ? Are there iron ore deposits in Oman ? Were the blades forged in Oman from imported or scrap iron ? (imported from where ?) Were the blades imported ready-made ? (from where ?) What was the position in the rest of Arabia regarding the above ? (eg. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE etc) ? What about khanjar blades in the modern period regarding the above points ? Apologies if these issues have been covered elsewhere either in whole or in part on the forum. Thanks in advance & regards. |
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20th October 2016, 04:49 PM
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#13 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Quote:
Hello Colin, Iron tools were made in Nizwa on forges as well as by wandering Zutoot before 1970... Much in the same way as Gypsies did this sort of work in other parts of the world. Most of the blades are imported ready made these days... but this is a good question as it is said that (so it probably isn't true) the best blades are locally made. I have heard tales of meteor ore being turned into such blades but I have found no evidence of it. I will find out more and post here as soon as I can. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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23rd October 2016, 04:04 PM
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#14 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,430
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Quote:
The only references I have been able to find on the internet, are from the website www.omanisilver.com. It states that older khanjar blades were from Iran or Europe. The website also quotes from the book by Franz Stuhlmann "Handwerk und Industrie in Ost Africa", 1910 that khanjar blades were sourced from Solingen. Regards, Colin Henshaw |
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21st January 2016, 04:57 PM
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#15 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 373
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Omani Jambiya
Quote:
Thank you for this post. I think I bought one of these last year. Photos attached. I purchased it used. The knife has been used, although it is in excellent condition. The blade has been mistreated but I can fix that. I like it. I like it a lot. There is nothng cheap about it. Granted it is not an antique but I can live with that. If I am not mistaken there is a photo in Mr. Gracie's book of one. I don't have the book with me right now but can provide the page number later today if you or anyone else would like the reference. Thanks again for the post. It is interesting to me to see how they are made. Not to mention seeing these incredible knives! Harry |
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21st January 2016, 08:10 PM
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#16 |
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 402
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Thank you for this link Ibrahim. It is very inreesting.
Do you know whose site it is? Regards Richard |
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22nd January 2016, 02:14 PM
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#17 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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The Al Wusta Khanjar.
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Salaams Richard G ...No idea ...I thought it was Government inspired... but I can find no source. Al Wusta is a newly introduced region inside the last 2 years in Oman...The old boundaries are reformatted making the historical trace difficult but it can be seen that the major sea port way back through antiquity was Sur...long the sealink with the south including Red Sea Regions and Zanzibar etc. Where the penny drops is on its style linking it/the Royal Khanjar and the Habaabi (of Abha) Red Sea (Yemen now Saudia ) style...down to the UUUUUUU decoration above the belt and the more curved Scabbard and Hilt and Scabbard style. The key factor is the close proximity to the important Slave and Ivory port of Sur in the 19th C and before. The major difference now between Asir/Habaabi Flower men Khanjar type and Omani is the Yemeni makers signature and floral etching often placed on the back of that Yemeni form..now part of Saudia...since 1923...but steeped in darkness for about 30 years after that. I have to say that this new website removes a shroud of misunderstanding upon all those issues. Please see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=omani+khanjar which shows Flower Tribe stamps of the maker plus...the form and the similarity in style with the Al Wusta Khanjar...The transmission being via Sur . Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 22nd January 2016 at 06:29 PM. |
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27th October 2016, 10:55 AM
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#18 |
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,430
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There is another reference to the manufacture of jambiya/khanjar blades, to be found in the book "Traditional Crafts of Saudi Arabia" by John Topham, page 136 :-
"While the sheaths were often made by local craftsmen, the blades were usually imported from Damascus or the Yemen" |
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22nd January 2016, 03:58 PM
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#19 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Quote:
Yours is an excellent high quality item... as you say some blade wear or damage which is easy to fix...or to get a refitted blade. The point being that the weapon is constructed so any part of it can be replaced... So you could transform it in minutes to an al Busaidi simply by changing the hilt...I would say this one has what we can say is a new hilt in high density carbon... and fitted to look like Ivory...I see nothing wrong with that at all...The design is what we call eyes of the Bedouin...and in what we also call the Baatinah (coastal) style with silver stitching all over the scabbard below its belt. There is a similar style at http://khanjar.om/Parts.html See the Types...I read it as agreeing with Omani coastal Baatinah form. The composite hilt with silver pins easily placed without splitting. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 22nd January 2016 at 04:32 PM. |
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22nd January 2016, 10:19 PM
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#20 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 373
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Quote:
Hello Ibrahiim, Thank you for this information. I did not know the pin arrangement style was called "eyes of the Bedouin", or about the Baatinah form. We think alike with regards to the importance of a Khanjar's age. Quality and beauty are more important considerations. I really like this one. That the hilt is composite does not bother me. I had a difficult time believing it was man made. Thanks again for the information! Best regards, Harry |
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23rd January 2016, 03:36 PM
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#21 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Quote:
Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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20th October 2016, 12:02 PM
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#22 | |
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 523
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Quote:
Salaams Ibrahiim, wonderful examples, I'm very impressed. Does the Workshop have a Homepage? I need to have one of these amazing Khanjars! Roland |
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20th October 2016, 04:53 PM
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#23 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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Quote:
Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. |
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Hybrid Mode
