Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who as ruler of Qatar transformed the tiny Persian Gulf nation into a global player in diplomacy, media and investment, and then shattered tradition by voluntarily ...

He took power in 1996 after staging a bloodless coup against his father, and went on to transform Qatar into the gas-rich power it is today.

Sheikh Hamad was the architect of Qatar’s effort ​to develop its liquefied natural gas infrastructure and established media network Al Jazeera, which gave Qatar ​an outsized voice in Arab politics.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who as ruler of Qatar transformed the tiny Persian Gulf nation into a global player in diplomacy, media and investment and then ...

Sheikh Hamad’s 18-year rule catapulted Qatar to prosperity and reshaped its domestic, regional and global footprint.

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam described Sheikh Hamad as an “exceptional statesman” whose “visionary leadership transformed Qatar and elevated its standing on the global stage”.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani turned Qatar's gas into a web of dependencies that kept a small state hard to isolate. The test his successors inherit is whether those alternatives still hold when ...

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Imam Muhammad ...

Middle East News: On July 12, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of Qatar, died at the age of 74, remembered for his transformative impact on Qatar's governance and societal ...

DUBAI, July 12 (Reuters) - Qatar's former emir, who revolutionised Qatar out of its Bedouin background to a regional powerhouse, has died at the age of 74, ‌the nation's Amiri Diwan, its top ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who as ruler of Qatar transformed the tiny Persian Gulf nation into a global player in diplomacy, media and investment, and then ...