Thani, Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifah ath-

▪ 2001

      By 2000, in the five years since Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifah ath-Thani had overthrown his father and become emir of Qatar, he had instituted a number of policies that had transformed the smallest of the Middle Eastern counties. He moved to allow Qatar's 600,000 residents to participate more actively in the government and to promote greater equality for women. After becoming ruler he announced plans to establish an elected parliament, appointed a committee to draft a permanent constitution, largely abolished censorship of the press, and in 1999 held the country's first open general elections for a municipal council. For the first time, women not only were allowed to vote but, even more revolutionary, were also allowed to run for office.

      One reform that thrust Qatar into the international spotlight was the establishment in 1996 of the country's satellite television network, Al Jazeera (“The Peninsula”). The network, which was guaranteed government financial backing for its first five years, was likened to an “Arab CNN.” It created a rare forum for uncensored news and debate, much to the delight of its viewers and to the displeasure of many Arab rulers. Some leaders, finding their policies under attack, on occasion moved to block their residents' access to the programming. Guests on the popular live call-in show Opposite Direction debated radically different viewpoints on sensitive subjects, and some sessions became so heated that guests walked off the set in mid-broadcast. By 2000 Al Jazeera's programming was seen 24 hours a day in over 20 countries, and the network was a leading source for Arab-language news.

      Hamad was born in 1950 in Doha, Qatar, into a family that at the time had ruled the country for a century. His father, Sheikh Khalifah ibn Hamad ath-Thani, became Qatar's leader in 1972, just months after the country had won independence from Great Britain. Hamad, who was educated in Qatar and in England at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, became a lieutenant colonel in Qatar's military after graduating in 1971. He was promoted in 1975 to major general and commander in chief of the armed forces, and in 1977 he became minister of defense as well as heir apparent to the throne. Following the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War, Hamad was, for most purposes, leading the country, and in 1995 he staged a coup and ousted his father while the latter was traveling outside the country. Hamad himself survived a number of subsequent coup attempts and succeeded in returning to the government a portion of the estimated $3 billion–$7 billion in gas and oil profits his father had held in personal bank accounts.

Sandra Langeneckert

* * *