An Omani court has sentenced a former minister to three years in jail over graft charges, in a first for the Gulf sultanate which has vowed to combat corruption, newspapers reported Monday. They said ex-commerce minister Mohammed bin Nasser al-Khusaibi was found guilty of bribing a**ther official to award a contract linked to a Muscat airport expansion project to a company in which he was a shareholder. The Muscat court on Sunday also slapped Khusaibi with a hefty 800,000-riyal ($2-million) fine, the Oman Daily Observer said. The Observer said a former refinery CEO who is also a member of Oman's upper chamber had been sentenced to three years in jail for corruption in an earlier trial.