Undertakings agreed by Rupert Murdoch upon his acqusition of the titles in 1981 mean that editors of the Times and Sunday Times "may be appointed... only by the agreement of a majority of the independent national directors".
To do so, would require News International to have the 1981 undertakings dispensed with – but the company has made no such application to ministers according to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
An RSF spokesperson said: "This is an encouraging gesture for freedom of information in the sultanate… The [Omani] laws on freedom of information, including online freedom of information, must be reformed so that they comply with international undertakings signed and ratified by the sultanate".
Earlier this month staff voted for industrial action including possible strike action over plans to cut more than 400 posts after management declined to give undertakings that there would be no compulsory redundancies and a freeze on bringing in staff from rivals.
Purchasers can now also be asked to give binding undertakings, theoretically enforceable through the courts.
Our task is to convince our partners that our undertakings are strategic, rather than tactical, and that our logic is sound.
In a meeting with editorial staff, he told journalists it was "not allowed" by the undertakings given by Rupert Murdoch in 1981 to maintain the independence of the paper and was "not part of any strategy".
If these cuts are necessary at all, that is only because of other manifesto undertakings, such as to cut inheritance tax and move beyond budget balance to an outright surplus.
Undertakings signed by Rupert Murdoch in 1981 as part of his takeover of the Times and Sunday Times mean that a majority of the six independent directors must approve the appointment of the editor of the other title, as a restraint against proprietorial interference – an arrangement unique on Fleet Street.
Lebedev said: "These undertakings - both hugely ambitious and difficult - would not have happened without him.
Yet Comcast says that it would make the same undertakings not to discriminate against other content firms and distribution networks that News Corp did last year when it acquired DirecTV.
