Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was the ruling Emir of the State of Qatar from 1995 to 2013. Sheikh Hamad is credited with transforming Qatar from an underdeveloped, Bedouin nation into a bustling modern country.
Background
His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was born in Sheikh’s family in Doha in 1950.
The family of Al Thani was “tamim” by birth, which moved on the island Qatar in 18th century and established its leadership.
Sheikh Hamad is open, communicative and well-wishing. He follows Islamic traditions. According to deep convictions Islam as the religion and the culture doesn’t have anything in common with terrorism.
Sheikh was married three times. His second wife, Mozah bint Nasser Al-Misnad, is the most famous in the country and abroad. She is the President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs. She stands against polygamy, which is a traditional thing in Islam and on 2002 she appeared on public without a yashmak.
Emir Hamad has ten sons. One of them, Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who was born on 1978 is the crown prince of Qatar. As his father he got his education at Royal Military Academy in Great Britain, where he was the youngest student. Today he heads High committee of coordination and execution.
Education
Sheikh Hamad began his education in Qatar’s schools and continued it in Sandhurst Military Academy in England.
Career
After graduation in 1971 Hamad was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed Commander in Chief of the Qatari Armed Forces.
On May 31, 1977 Sheikh Hamad Al Thani was proclaimed the crown prince and was appointed as the Minister of Defense and in 1989 he led the Supreme Planning Council.
On June 27, 1995 Hamad deposed his father in a bloodless coup d'état and headed the country. His policy was aimed at democratic and economical transformations in the country.
Emir Qatar is known as a brave reformer. He is called as “Middle Eastern Gorbachev” in western mass media. The first thing he did was an abrogation of state censorship and after that a new TV channel Al Jazeera had appeared. Qatar’s mass media is considered as liberal in countries of Gulf. In economic sphere gas and petrochemical sectors were reformed, there also started privatization in state sector and all conditions for developing medium and small-scale business.
Emir stands for a development of electoral rights, developing of education system, enhancement of women’s role, modernization of armed forces. Qatar’s women got the right to vote and to run for a member of municipal agencies. In April, 2003 for the first time in the history a woman was appointed as the Prime Minister. (She headed the Ministry of Defense.) The first Constitution was adopted in the same year.
Nevertheless, at the same time Sheikh Hamad strengthened monarchist power. On Hamad’s initiative Family Council was created, which consisted of 13 members of Al Thani’s family and Hamad headed this Council. After that Hamad published all his plans on transforming Qatar in the Kingdom.
Sheikh supposes that the collaboration of Arabian countries with the USA is very important for the future of our planet. He said repeatedly that basis of American society, which were the example of modern western civilization, were not a foreign body as regards to all those lofty wealth and principles, which nourish and inspire the whole Arabic and Islamic civilization. The monarch thinks that a state has to build a foreign policy on principles of international legality, peaceful coexistence and mutual respect. Qatar’s authority has considerably increased during Hamad’s governing.
In December, 2001 Qatar visited Moscow for the first time.
Sheikh Hamad re-established good neighborly relations with Bahrain. He also called to solidarity with Iraqui people and asked to help him with creating united independent state. He is also worried about the problem of Palestinian people. He supports a just struggle of Palestine for its legal right on creating the state with the capital in Jerusalem.
Hamad was one of the first in Arabian world who denounced terrorists’ acts on September 11, 2001. He believes in justice, freedom and equality, but he also thinks that it’s very important to distinguish terror from a legal right of the nation for its freedom.