29 February 1972. He witnessed the signing of the amendment and revision of the 1959 Agreement at the Lapau, Bandar Seri Begawan on 23 November 1971. He accompanied his son, Hassanal Bolkiah to London to initial the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation on 29 September 1978. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation to assume full responsibility towards the independence and sovereignty of Brunei Darussalam, and responsibility for foreign affairs and defence from the United Kingdom. He became one of the signatories of the treaty which was held at the Lapau, Bandar Seri Begawan on 7 January 1979. He also attended the opening ceremony of Brunei's own national stadium, which named as Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium at Berakas on 23 September 1983. It was one of the most modern stadiums in Southeast Asia during that time. Independence of Brunei — Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence of Brunei At the stroke of midnight on 31 December 1983 in a public event held at the Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien Park, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah officially proclaimed that Brunei Darussalam had achieved its independence and sovereignty after 97 years of British protection. Soon after the reading of the declation, Omar Ali Saifuddien was honoured by the Sultan to lead the masses of people chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) three times. This was followed by the singing of the national anthem, a 21-gun salute by the Royal Brunei Land Forces and a prayer was read by the State Mufti to give God's blessings to the newly independent nation. Post-Independence Although he had abdicated 17 years ago and Brunei had achieved its independence, he continued to play an important role after his appointed by the Sultan as Minister of Defence in Brunei's first cabinet ministers and consequently conferred the rank of Field Marshal in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. He also welcomed the arrival of Yasser Arafat, the Chairman of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on his official visit to Brunei on 26 July 1984. Death Omar Ali Saifuddien died on 7 September 1986 at the age of 71. It was reported that he has been sick for weeks prior to his death. He was granted a state funeral the following day, which Radio Television Brunei covered, proceeded by a lying in state at the Istana Nurul Iman. Several foreign leaders had given their quotes about Omar Ali Saifuddien,