The Emiri Diwan yesterday announced the death of the Grandfather Emir H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday at age 84. “May Allah bestow mercy on his soul and make his residence paradise, and grant him the best reward for what he achieved to his homeland and nation,” said a statement issued by the Emiri Diwan last night.
The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani ordered three days of public mourning in the country.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani was born in 1932. He was educated under Sheikh Abdul Hameed Al Dail and Sheikh Hassan Murad and other scholars.
He acquired experiences from the Majlis of his father Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah. In the 50s he served in different positions including membership of the Justice Court which was sitting once in very week to settle disputes. The court headed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali had three members, according to an obituary written by Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Ghanim bin Ali Al Thani in Al Sharq.
In 1956, the ministry of education was established and Sheikh Khalifa became the first minister. In October 24, 1960 Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah ceded power to his son Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali and Sheikh Khalifa was assigned as Heir Apparent and deputy of the governor.
Since that time, Sheikh Khalifa took different positions and tasks. In November 5, 1960 he was appointed as minister of finance. In March 24 1966, he took the position as chairman of the board of directors of Qatar and Dubai monetary authority.
In 1968 there was a proposal and plans to establish a union of nine Gulf Emirates. Sheikh Khalifa was then elected chairman of the temporary union council which served as an executive authority for the union.
On April 2,1970 the provisional basic law for government of the state of Qatar was issued and accordingly Sheikh Khalifa became the prime minister.
On February 22, 1972, Sheikh Khalifa became the Emir of Qatar and he began to reorganize the government.
The first thing he did was to appoint the minister of foreign affairs and the advisor to the Emir on the daily affairs of the country.
In April 19, 1972 he amended the constitution and increased the number of ministers and began to establish diplomatic relations with a number of countries on ambassadorial level.
In his time the country witnessed prosperity in different aspects including economy. The Qatar General Petroleum Corporation was established in 1974 and in 1984 Qatargas company was set up. The same year, a committee was set up to run the Al Shamal gas field.
In 1991, the natural gas project was completed and the first gas well started production. In September the same year Sheikh Khalifa officially opened the Al Shamal gas field. During his time a number of agreements and partnership deals in oil and gas sector were signed and this significantly increased the revenue of the country.
In the field of industry, a number of factories such as Qatar steel and Qatar Petrochemicals were inaugurated. In finance and banking aspects, the Qatar monetary agency was established in 1973.
In the field of education, a number of schools were set up and the number of students increased. In 1973, the Qatar University was established and became a full-fledged university in 1977. In 1985 the university moved to its current premises.
In the field of health, the Hamad General Hospital was set up and Sheikh Khalifa inaugurated it in 1982. He also opened the Women’s Hospital in 1998 and many primary health centers across the country. In the field of culture and youth aspects Sheikh Khalifa opened the Qatar National Museum in 1975 and in 1982 he opened the Qatar National Theatre and the number of sports clubs increased and expanded.
In 1975, the Qatar News Agency was established and a number of magazines and newspapers started publishing.
In 1973, the Civil Aviation Department was established followed by meteorological department. In 1982 the country witnessed expansion in airport, ports, roads and postal services.
In 1987 Qatar Telecommunications (Qtel) was established.
In the field of agriculture, farming areas increased and the Qatar national company for fishing was established in 1980 followed by the Qatar Arab company for poultry products. The the central authority for statistics was also set up to help policy makers.
In June 27 1995 power shifted from Sheikh Khalifa to the then Heir Apparent HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
