| Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani | |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister of Qatar | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 3 April 2007 |
|
| Monarch | Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani |
| Deputy | Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah |
| Preceded by | Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani |
| Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar | |
| In office 16 September 2003 – 3 April 2007 |
|
| Prime Minister | Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani |
| Preceded by | Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani |
| Succeeded by | Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 January 1992 |
|
| Prime Minister | Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani |
| Preceded by | Mubarak Ali al-Khater |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 August 1959 Doha, Qatar |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse(s) | Jawaher Al Thani (1973-2005) Aljohara bint Fahad (2008–present) |
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad Al Thani (born 30 August 1959) is a Qatari politician and the current Prime Minister of Qatar, a position he has held since 3 April 2007, and Foreign Minister, which he has been since 11 January 1992.
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Sheikh Hamad was born in Doha, Qatar in 1959. He is the 5th son of Sheikh Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani. Through his father, he is the grandson of Sheikh Jabr bin Muhammed Al Thani. Sheikh Jabr was a younger brother of H.H. Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, founding father of the modern Qatar and 1st Emir of the state. Although 52-years younger than his brother, Sheikh Jabr was of great importance in helping the first Emir to establish a stable country. The 8th and former Emir of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, is Hamad's 2nd cousins once removed.
Between 1982 and 1989, Sheikh Hamad was the Director of the Office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. In July 1989 he was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture and in May 1990, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Electricity and Water for two years, along with his post as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, where he supervised several successful projects and developed the agriculture sector.[1]
On 1 September 1992, Hamad was appointed as Foreign Minister of Qatar by the 8th Emir. He was retained in his post when the current emir, H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (Khalifa's son) came to power in a coup in 1995. Hamad played an important role in the overthrow of the 8th Emir and is close to his 2nd cousins twice removed, the current 9th Emir. On 16 September 2003, Hamad was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister while retaining his position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 2 April 2007, he was appointed as Prime Minister of Qatar, following the resignation of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani; he continued to serve as Foreign Minister.[2]
He has been reported to have strong connections with the US government and serves on the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Institution and chairs the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Doha Center. He has stakes in many strong businesses such as Qatar Airways and the Foreign Investment Company, Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, The Pearl and Harrods. He is a partner in Project Grande (Guernsey), the developer of One Hyde Park in London, United Kingdom.[3]
Additionally, he has held several other key positions including member of the Supreme Defense Council, which was established in 1996; Head of Qatar’s Permanent Committee for the Support of al Quds; which was formed in 1998; member of the Permanent Constitution Committee, formed in 1999; member of the Ruling Family Council, which was established in 2000; and member of the Supreme Council for the Investment of the Reserves of the State, which was established in 2000.[1]
Sheikh Hamad has worked actively to settle political conflicts in both Africa and the Middle East over the last 20 years.
In 2010, he led the mediation efforts that resulted in the signing of a peace agreement between Djibouti and Eritrea to settle their border dispute and thereby paving the way for broader peace talks to end the six-year conflict in the region. According to the negotiated peace declaration, the two parties pledged to give peaceful means a “strategic priority to settle the conflict in Darfur”, and to take the required measures to create “an opportune environment to achieve a lasting settlement”, including the halting of “inconvenience to the displaced and ensuring the flow of relief aid”. The parties furthermore committed themselves to prisoners swap and the release of those who were detained due to the dispute.
In 2009, he assisted in the settlement agreement between Sudan and Chad. The civil war in Chad began in December 2005. On February 8, 2006 the Tripoli Agreement was signed, which temporarily stopped the fighting. However, hostilities resumed after two months, leading to several new agreement attempts and a final settlement between the two parties in 2009.
In 2009 Sheikh Hamad participated in brokering a peace agreement to end the conflict in Darfur ("The Goodwill and Confidence Building Pact”) between the government of Sudan and Justice and Equality Movement. The pact also opened up to the rest of factions in Darfur.
He participated in mediation of ceasefire in Yemen between the Government of Yemen and the Houthi Movement in 2007. In 2010, the two parties agreed to activate the agreement after confrontations threatening the ceasefire. The mediation ended a six-year war between the two sides.
In 2007, Sheikh Hamad helped organize the Lebanese national dialogue and the peace agreement between various Lebanese political groups to end the worst internal fighting in Lebanon since the civil war of 1975-1990. In an attempt to resolve a broader political showdown that had paralyzed the country for 18 months, Sheikh Hamad summoned the Lebanese government and Hezbollah-led opposition to Qatar for talks. He declared an agreement sponsored by the Arab League to deal with the Lebanese crisis. In the agreement the parties pledged, “to refrain from returning to the use of weapons or violence to realize political gains." The Lebanese government furthermore committed itself to introduce a new electoral law designed to provide better representation in the country's sectarian system of power sharing.
Sheikh Hamad was instrumental in creating the peace settlement between Sudan and Eritrea in 1998. The un-demarcated border with Sudan had posed a problem for Eritrean external relations for most of the nation's existence. He negotiated a peace settlement between Sudan and Eritrea. After the agreement was signed, relations somewhat normalized.
In 1996, he worked to settle a brief war between Eritrea and Yemen over the Hanish Islands. As part of the agreement to cease hostilities the two nations agreed, through the negotiating effort of Sheikh Hamad, to refer the issue to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 1998. Yemen was granted full ownership of the larger islands while Eritrea was awarded the peripheral islands to the southwest of the larger islands. Since then relations between the two governments have remained relatively normal.
Sheikh Hamad facilitated the agreement that led to a unity constitution in Yemen in May 1990, ratified by the populace in May 1991. It affirmed Yemen's commitment to free elections, a multiparty political system, the right to own private property, equality under the law, and respect of basic human rights. Parliamentary elections were held on April 27, 1993.
Sheikh Hamad also has been involved in ongoing efforts between Fatah and Hamas to achieve Palestinian reconciliation to activate the peace process with Israel.
Of other humanitarian initiatives, he has facilitated the release of prisoners, including the five Lebanese prisoners in Eritrea. He supported the effort to release Mr. Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan from jail, and was instrumental in freeing the Bulgarian nurses in Libya from prison. He has opened Qatar to political refugees in the Muslim and Arab worlds. During the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s, he secured large quantities of food, medicine and other items to the Bosnian population.
In November 2010 he launched the Humanitarian Appeal 2011 in Doha, together with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The initiative is set to help improve the living conditions for millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world.
He married two wives, first with Sheikha Jawaher and secondly Noor Al Subai'ee.[5] He has seven sons and eight daughters:
He is the owner of the 133 meter yacht, al-Mirqab, which is the eighth largest super yacht in the world.[6] The yacht is estimated to have cost Al Thani between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.[7]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani |
Prime Minister of Qatar 2007–present |
Incumbent |
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