DOHA: Qatar’s former emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, a sweeping moderniser who seized energy in 1995 and broke with custom handy it over to his son 18 years later, has died on the age of 74.
Qatar’s prime authorities physique, the Amiri Diwan, introduced that Sheikh Hamad had died on Sunday (Jul 12) morning. It didn’t point out the reason for his demise.
The Qatar that the present Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani inherited was already nicely on its approach to being remade by his father.
Sheikh Hamad presided over one of the vital consequential intervals within the nation’s historical past, driving a speedy transformation of the tiny desert state that reshaped its financial system, world profile and political ambition.
A forceful, independent-minded character, he defined in a speech to mark his abdication in 2013 that he wished a brand new technology “with their revolutionary concepts and energetic energies” to take over.
Sheikh Hamad was the architect of Qatar’s effort to develop its liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) infrastructure that allowed it to get its huge gasoline reserves to world markets, turning the state into one of many world’s largest exporters and laying the foundations for its huge wealth.
He established media community Al Jazeera, which gave Qatar an outsized voice in Arab politics and projected its affect far past the Gulf. He additionally oversaw the profitable bid to host the 2022 World Cup, a transfer that firmly put Qatar on the worldwide stage and accelerated a decade of infrastructure constructing that remade the capital, Doha.
LAYING GROUNDWORK FOR QATAR’S ROLE AS PEACE BROKER
His overseas coverage carved out a task for Qatar as a mediator, brokering talks in conflicts from Lebanon to Yemen and Darfur whereas sustaining ties with america – internet hosting US Central Command – in addition to Iran and teams aligned with it.
That balancing act laid the groundwork for Qatar’s present position in negotiations between america and Iran, and in its years-long efforts to halt the conflict in Gaza.
Qatar below Sheikh Hamad performed a distinguished and controversial position in the course of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, utilizing its sources and outsized affect to again revolutionary actions and Islamist teams throughout the area.
Whereas Doha portrayed its coverage as assist for widespread calls for for political change, critics accused it – and Sheikh Hamad – of selectively backing factions aligned with its pursuits, notably teams linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
This put Sheikh Hamad at odds with fellow Gulf monarchs in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which considered many of those actions as a risk to regional stability and monarchical rule.
The activism elevated Qatar’s regional profile but additionally deepened tensions with its neighbours and left a legacy that continues to form Gulf politics.
COUP AND ATTEMPTED COUNTER-COUP
Sheikh Hamad’s abdication was meant to make sure a clean succession and minimise discord inside a ruling household with a protracted historical past of palace intrigue.
He himself seized energy from his father in a cold coup in 1995. A yr later, he survived an tried counter-coup that analysts attributed to his father, who had come to energy in related vogue in 1972 by ousting his cousin.
Considered one of Sheikh Hamad’s most consequential companions in Qatar’s modernisation drive was one in every of his wives, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, who fostered a public profile that was uncommon for a Gulf ruler’s spouse. Sheikha Moza’s affect rose alongside his efforts to reposition the state at house and overseas.
Whereas Sheikh Hamad pushed by way of political and financial reforms that reshaped the nation’s trajectory, she superior a parallel agenda in training, analysis and social growth.
When the emir took energy, he was the youngest chief within the area at 44. He was considered as much less aloof than different Gulf Arab leaders, and will typically be discovered at his favorite cafe in Doha’s souq, speaking with the patrons.
