Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad abdicates in favour of son Sheikh Tamim

Qatar emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani abdicated in favour of his 33-year-old son Sheikh Tamim on Tuesday, in a first for the Arab world.

The 61-year-old emir hands over a small but economically strong Gulf state that has become a major actor in international diplomacy and an important role player in Arab Spring uprisings.

"I announce handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani," the emir said in a televised speech.

The decision marks the "beginning of a new era in which a young leadership will hold the banner," he added.

Sheikh Hamad’s decision to abdicate sees Tamim propelled into the youngest sovereign of any of the Gulf Arab monarchies.

The occasion was marked by the declaration of Tuesday as a public holiday.

Diwan receives citizens to swear allegiance to Sheikh Tamim as Emir of Qatar 

The Emiri Diwan announced that the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, will receive Qatari citizens at the Emiri Diwan, today and tomorrow to swear allegiance to Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani as Emir of Qatar, Qatar News Agency (QNA) said.

New Generation

Tamim, born in 1980, is the second son of the emir and his second wife Sheikha Mozah and has been groomed for years to take the helm of Qatar.

The British-educated Tamim is deputy commander of the armed forces and head of the National Olympic Committee. He also chairs the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee in charge of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Diplomats said that over the past three years the emir has increasingly transferred military and security responsibilities to Tamim, who like his father went to the British military academy Sandhurst.

He also went to Sherborne school in Dorset.

"The emir is convinced that he should encourage the new generation. He plans to transfer power to the crown prince ... and to carry out a ministerial reshuffle to bring a large number of young people into the cabinet," a Qatari official had told AFP on Monday.

The tiny Gulf peninsula holds the world's third largest gas reserves and produces roughly 77 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year, making it the world's largest supplier.

Qatar has major global investments, including in the French football club Paris Saint-Germain, in hotels, in a resort on the Italian island of Sardinia, and stakes in Volkswagen, energy giant Total and Britain's Barclays Bank.

The Gulf state also controls a powerful media empire through Al-Jazeera, the first pan-Arab satellite channel which also broadcasts in English, and earlier this year bought struggling US cable channel Current TV in preparation for the launch of Al-Jazeera America.

“You kept your word…thank you”: Qatari Emir tells dad

In his first online reaction to his father’s abdication as Emir of Qatar, the new Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani thanked his father and said he kept his word when he promised to make Qataris the happiest people in the world.

Sheikh Tamim was commenting in his Twitter page to recent statements by outgoing Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani who had said:”I will make sure everyone in the world will wish to be a Qatari.”

“You turned your words into deeds…you kept your word…thank you our father, our leader and our nation,” Sheikh Tamim said.

Sheikh Hamad, 61, abdicated for his 33-year-old son on Tuesday, saying he wanted to give a chance to a younger leader to rule the Gulf country, which has the world’s highest GDP per capita and is the top exporter of LNG.
 

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