DUBAI   - Oman's new ruler, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, was on Saturday taking the oath of allegiance as sultan to succeed his cousin Qaboos bin Said who died on Friday, two Omani newspapers said.

There was no official Omani government confirmation of the report posted by Al Watan and Al Roya newspapers on their Twitter accounts. Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV earlier reported that Haitham bin Tariq had suceeded Qaboos.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous Editing by Shri Navaratnam) ((ghaida.ghantous@thomsonreuters.com;))