The players - resources on key people and personalities in Qatar.
Issues and ideas - a selection of articles from GSN's more recent history.
Perspectives: from the GSN archive - articles from GSN's extensive database.
Qatar Government list and other notables
A listing of the cabinet, and selected Al-Thani family members
Published May 2009.
Download the PDF
Al-Thani family tree
A family tree showing the line of succession in Qatar
Published August 2008.Download the PDF
Pressure on Emiri brothers
The business troubles of two of Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani’s brothers (he has four, all half-siblings) have been in the news.
Issue 864, November 2009. 
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HBJ: Shuttle diplomacy and business
Prime and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani has been travelling, holding meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and new US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
Issue 847, 13 February 2009. more
Emir Sheikh Hamad: Private visit to Syria, Assad talks
Emir Sheikh Hamad visited Syria in early October for talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The Qatar News Agency said he was on a private visit. With him was son Sheikh Joaan, who is gradually taking on a more public role.
Issue 839, 24 October 2008. more
Emir Sheikh Hamad: Diplomacy in Tehran and Damascus
The senior Al-Thani leadership has been busy on the international front. Following a visit to Tehran by Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar denied it had invited Iran to attend this year’s December Gulf Co-operation Council summit.
Issue 836, 15 September 2008. more
Ministry shake-up in Qatari reshuffle
Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has reshuffled and enlarged his cabinet, appointing another female minister. Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ) kept his position and the interior, energy and finance portfolios remain unchanged.
Issue GSN 833, 11 July 2008. more
HBJ’s position confirmed in cabinet change
In a rare cabinet reshuffle, Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani appointed Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ) as his premier, replacing his maternal nephew, the Emir’s younger half-brother Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who resigned. Abdullah had reportedly “tired” of the job and was appointed private counsellor to the Emir, with rank of prime minister.
Issue 803, 13 April 2007. more
Tamim and HBJ: Two big Qatari players to watch
Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani’s star is ascending. GSN has been watching closely as Tamim rises through the ranks, displacing his brother as heir apparent and now taking an active role in deciding who does what in the new Qatar. As deputy emir, he has the power to ratify cabinet decisions on behalf of the Emir and can also issue decrees; he seems to be using this power increasingly.
Issue 791, 13 October 2006. more
PM’s son weds, former CP to marry
In a marriage bringing together two influential wings of the extended Al-Thani family, Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al-Thani, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in February married Sheikha Jawahar Bint Abdelaziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani.
Sheikh Hamad chairs the Qatar Investment and Project Holding Company, which in December acquired a majority stake in local conglomerate Mannai Corporation. He also sits on the board of the huge Qatar Shipping Company.
Issue 778, 24 March 2005. more
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Saudi mediation cools tensions in Middle Gulf
Recent tensions between Manama and Doha are forecast to cool following reported mediation efforts by the Saudis. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad on 27 May rang Saudi King Abdullah to thank him for helping to appoint a new Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) head, a rotating post. Sheikh Hamad also rang Bahrain’s King Hamad to praise him for accepting the Saudi initiative. Qatari premier and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani was in Riyadh for talks with King Abdullah on 21 May.
Issue 878, 4 June 2010. more
Malaga football club investment
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Thani is reported to have bought Spanish football club Malaga.
Issue 878, 4 June 2010. more
Another day another GCC maritime spat
The shooting of Bahraini fisherman Adel Ali Mohammed by Qatar’s Coasts and Borders Security Department has once more highlighted tensions within the Gulf Co-operation Council region over maritime borders. It has also sparked debate in Bahrain over the impact that reclamation work is having on the local fishing industry.
Issue 877, 21 May 2010. more
Gas overtakes oil as main contributor to economy as LNG output continues to rise
Risk mamagement report
Issue 877, 21 May 2010. more
Qatar looks to outside help
A senior delegation from the Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) visited US agricultural research institutes in January, and Britain’s Royal Agricultural College (RAC) was recently in the country for meetings.
Issue 876, 7 May 2010. more
Qatar positions itself for Areva deal
Qatar is lining up a potential bid for a stake in French nuclear world-beater Areva – which will have to confront French resistance to an Arab government buying into a ‘national champion’ but seems to have the support of President Nicolas Sarkozy and French lobbies that have long cultivated relations with Doha and Abu Dhabi.
Issue 875, 23 April 2010. more
Security pact
Iranian interior minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar has been in Doha to sign a security pact aimed at increasing co-operation in the fight against organised crime, human and drug trafficking.
Issue 873, 19 March 2010. more
Strong economy, better regional links ensure a steady 2010
Risk management report
Issue 871, 12 February 2010. more
Pair jailed over death
Two people have been jailed over the death of Qatar’s former commerce minister Sheikh Fahd Bin Jassim Bin Mohammed Al-Thani in May 2009.
Issue 871, 12 February 2010. more
Gamble pays off for Qatar’s LNG masterplan
Qatar is nearing completion of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) masterplan, with the last three of the 14 proposed trains due to come on stream this year. When they do, LNG exports will reach 77m t/yr, by far the largest in the world and rounding off an astonishing economic growth spurt.
Issue 870, 29 January 2010. more
Qatar’s sponsorship system once again under international spotlight
While Qatar is no stranger to negative stories in the more scurrilous regional papers, British media, including Euromoney magazine, have picked up the case of senior British banker David Proctor, who has reportedly been unable to leave for nearly a year after his all-powerful sponsor refused to sign his exit visa. Typical of the type of recent media coverage, The Independent newspaper ran a headline: “The dangers of working in Qatar – wages may be tax free, but employment laws can make leaving the emirate a nightmare.”
Issue 870, 29 January 2010. more
Brazilian plays
Qatar is interested in buying minority stakes in state oil company Petrobras and in a major financial institution, Banco do Brasil
Issue 870, 29 January 2010. more
Regional tour spurs Petrobras talk
Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has been on a tour of Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Costa Rica.
Issue 870, 29 January 2010. more
Strong economy and better regional relations should ensure a steady 2010
Risk Management Report
Issue 869, 15 January 2010. more
Bilfinger Berger may pull out
German construction company Bilfinger Berger is considering pulling out of Qatar because of a disagreement with local state construction authority Ashghal over its Doha expressway project.
Issue 867, 4 December 2009. more
New QFC chief executive
Stuart Pearce, Qatar Financial Centre’s chief executive since 2005, has stepped down and been replaced by acting chief executive Shashank Srivastava.
Issue 867, 4 December 2009. more
Qatari investment vehicles emerge from recession
Not all the headlines are positive, with wealthy Al-Thanis involved in controversial projects in London and Paris, but domestic indicators are good, business is building in Asia and the mega funds are back in action
Issue 864, November 2009. more
Pressure on Emiri brothers
The business troubles of two of Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani’s brothers (he has four, all half-siblings) have been in the news.
Issue 864, November 2009. more
Qatar’s Asia focus
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and its associates are increasingly looking towards Asia. In early November, Qatari Diar said it would soon sign an agreement to develop a project in Vietnam.
Issue 864, November 2009. more
Economy gets thumbs up as investment climate set to improve
Risk Management Report
Issue 864, November 2009. more
Banks risky but Qatar does well, says study
A recently published study by San Francisco-based global investment firm Passport Capital says “the outlook on the banking sector across the GCC is nuanced, offers limited visibility for now, and is undoubtedly risky today”.
Issue 861, 25 September 2009. more
Lockerbie release: Qatar’s Scottish play
Qatar seems to have played a facilitating role in getting convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbasset Ali Mohammed Al-Megrahi back to Libya, just as it helped in getting the Bulgarian medics out of Colonel Qadhafi’s Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) in 2007 (GSN 811/1).
Issue 860, 11 September 2009. more
‘Attempted coup’ talk highlights dangerous tit-for-tat in media
Recent allegations in regional media – perhaps encouraged by senior officials in their host countries – of serious political shake-ups in the military establishment and ruling family – suggest all is not well in Qatar’s regional relations, even after a year when Doha has made serious efforts to mend fences with Saudi Arabia and Jordan
Issue 859, 7 August 2009. more
Risk Management Report
Qatargas, Rasgas LNG trains set to come on stream, Tamim to lead talks with Iran
Issue 859, 7 August 2009. more
Qatar’s Al-Jazeera upsets Palestinians
Keeping up with tradition, Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel has fallen out with the Palestinian Authority (PA), although it has resumed broadcasts in the West Bank after a PA ban was lifted. The ban came after a guest on the station accused President Mahmoud Abbas of collaborating with Israel to try to assassinate former PA leader Yasser Arafat.
Issue 858, 24 July 2009. more
Menard quits Doha Centre
Less than two years after the establishment of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, its high-profile director general Robert Menard has quit. Menard, who founded Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières, said the centre was “suffocating” under Qatar’s harsh environment of media repression.
Issue 857, 10 July 2009. more
Qatargas to supply Poland with gas and revamp ports
State-owned Qatar Gas Operating Company (Qatargas) and Polish state-owned Polskie Gornictwo Naftove i Gazownictwo (Pgnig) have signed a 20-year agreement to supply 1m t/yr of Qatari liquefied natural gas.
Issue 854, 29 May 2009. more
Risk management report
GSN Risk Grade — B/1: South Hook LNG terminal opening cements Qatar’s relationship with the UK
Issue 853, 15 May 2009. more
Gulf sovereign wealth funds look to Asia to meet local power needs
Abu Dhabi and Qatari sovereign wealth funds are in talks with Indonesian energy firm Valco Corporation to invest around $1bn in two Indonesian coal-mining firms. A source close to the deal told GSN the funds hoped to finalise the acquisitions over the next two months. Talks are focused on buying the debt of Indonesia’s largest and politically influential coal producer, Bakrie & Brothers, and taking its shares in Bumi Resources, another coal producer, as debt collateral. Valco is a private company led by Mohammed Bilid Al-Mushally, an Indonesian of Hadhramauti origin.
Issue 850, 27 March 2009. more
Doha media watchdog breaks with tradition
Free speech has taken a small but notable step forward in Qatar with the publication of a report on media freedom and transparency in the Middle East and North Africa by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, established just over a year ago by Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The report’s frank analysis of conditions in Qatar – with a page for every country – is striking.
Issue 848, 27 February 2009. more
Risk management report
GSN Risk Grade — B/1: Al-Thanis remain busy on the foreign relations front
Issue 848, 27 February 2009. more
After Gaza, is it all over for Qatar & Israel?
Deep concerns across the region about political developments in Iran and Israel, communal tensions and ever more spats over policy between Gulf Co-operation Council member states (all discussed in Politics, below) are starting to claim victims – which seem to include the semi-public rapprochement between Israel and Qatar’s determinedly independent-minded leadership.
Issue 847, 13 February 2009. more
BTMU opens Doha branch
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ announced on 2 February that it would open a Doha sub-branch having acquired formal approval from the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority. BTMU aims to use the Doha branch to further enhance information gathering, financial services and other support that it provides to corporate clients in the Middle East.
Issue 847, 13 February 2009. more
Qataris consider ways of keeping Iranians off their rigs
The problem of Iranian penetration of Qatar’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs) has long been a thorny one for the Qatari Emiri Navy (QEN), the emirate’s coast guard and Qatari Emiri Air Force (QEAF). GSN’s periodic surveys of the Project National Security Shield (NSS) system of radar and coastal surveillance has focused on the deep paranoia and touchiness that Doha feels when confronted with Iran’s powerful and unpredictable naval forces. With the giant North Field/South Pars gas reserve not yet unitised, the shared field still has a ‘wild west’ feel about it, with the Iranians and Qataris staking out their claims with rigs instead of fence posts.
Issue 845, 16 January 2009.more
Surviving the credit crunch
Recent bank reports have given the Qatari economy the thumbs up. Saudi Arabia’s Samba Financial Group predicted strong growth in 2009. In December, Samba said that “while not immune to the crisis… Qatar is well placed to weather the storm and is projected to continue growing at around 10% in real terms in 2009. On the basis of most available growth projections, this would make it the fastest growing economy in the world next year [2009].”
Issue 845, 16 January 2009. more
Risk management report
GSN Risk Grade — B/1: Huge wealth allows world-scale industrial, financial and leisure investments
Issue 843, 19 December 2008. more
Senior UAE, Qatari sheikhs talk big business – and small arms – in Algiers
A flurry of diplomatic missions to Algiers during November emphasised the strengthening trade and investment bonds within the Middle East and North Africa region: defence deals were on the agenda.
Issue 842, 5 December 2008. more
Options weighed for Dolphin refinancing
Manoeuvrings for refinancing one of the GCC region’s most important energy transfer projects, the Dolphin Energy Ltd (DEL) gas pipeline between Qatar and the UAE, are expected to accelerate in the New Year, although bankers are remaining tight-lipped on details.
Issue 842, 5 December 2008. more
QIA maintains drive to develop real estate
The ever hungry QIA plans to take advantage of the global property slump in its bid to diversify its asset base.
Aquisitive sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) said in mid-November that it planned further real estate buys next year ,as global prices declined and investors sold assets. “We are looking for prime properties in major cities at distressed prices… we will continue to invest in attractive assets we are comfortable with,” QIA real estate head Navid Chamdia said.
Issue 841, 21 November 2008. more
Also see Issue 839, 24 October 2008. QIA remains busy
First Saudi Arabia, now Jordan – Qatar mends regional relations
The impending official visit of the Jordanian royal couple to Doha signals another step in Qatar’s efforts to rebuild regional relations that were, in part at least, hurt by Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel’s irreverent reporting of regional leaderships. The mid-November visit of Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi to Qatar suggested that bilateral relations were truely on the mend, following months of ‘peace offerings’ which included the appointment of an ambassador to Doha and the exchange of messages between King Abdullah II and Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
Issue 841, 21 November 2008. more
Also see: Issue 839, 24 October 2008. Darfur the next item on Doha’s diplomatic agenda; Issue 836, 15 September 2008: Emir Sheikh Hamad: Diplomacy in Tehran and Damascus
Risk management report
Al-Thani leadership remains busy on mediation and investment front
Issue 840, 7 November 2008. more
SE Asian agri-investment plans reflect hunger to secure food
Following on plans to establish an investment fund with Indonesia (GSN 835/15), Qatar and Vietnam have announced a $1bn fund to invest in various sectors including agriculture. According to Vietnamese ambassador Phung The Long, Qatar Investment Authority will provide 90% of the fund’s equity.
Issue 835, 15 September 2008. more
Qatar IWPP bolsters regional project market
Some clouds overshadowing the region’s project finance market have been lifted with the closure of a $3.3bn limited recourse loan package for Qatar’s $3.8bn Ras Laffan C IWPP, and Nakilat has also got its gas carrier financing away.
Issue 835, 1 September 2008. more
Risk management report
Massive dividends from sovereign wealth as gas export revenues boom
Issue 835, 1 September 2008. more
Emir’s exiled brother adds twist to saga of Doha’s City relations
Qatar’s move to become the biggest shareholder in Barclays Bank continues its love affair with the City of London, although the London/Doha axis may not be an all-consuming passion. Adding to the spice, a mysterious Qatari sheikh has been ramping up a case against Barclays. He has been named as Sheikh Abdelaziz Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, an older half brother of Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
Issue 832, 30 June 2008. more
Terrorist fund-raising case shines light on Qatar’s sensitive role
A Qatari national’s presence on the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist Individuals says something about the love lost between Washington and Doha in recent years, and the continued undercurrent of jihadist activity in the region – also shown in the US designation of two Bahrainis, analysed in a separate article below.
Issue 831, 13 June 2008.more
HBJ’s Doha deal bridges Lebanese divide
Prime Minister Sheikh Hamed Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ)’s stock is rising, following the apparently successful Qatari intervention to salvage a seemingly intractable regional crisis. The Qatari-mediated pact between Lebanon’s government and opposition signed on 21 May after five days of intensive talks, grants the Hizbollah-led opposition veto-power over the proposed national unity government, confirming the Shia bloc’s capacity to dictate the political agenda in Beirut.
Issue 830, 2 June 2008. more
Gulf Companies target Africa: IAS International’s CAR play
Doha-based IAS International Holding was last October awarded oil and gas exploration and exploitation rights in Central African Republic, in a joint venture with China’s state-owned Poly Technologies Inc (PTI). Chairman Issam Abu Issa told GSN that “work exploration is already in progress in the CAR and some field work is being planned for February.”
Issue 822, 4 February 2008. more (Also see Issue 821, 21 January 2008: Sphere has major potential)
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| Perspectives: from the GSN archive |
Qatar looks to Singapore for its model of public security and Singaporeans take advantage
Already the model for small countries looking to promote ultra-efficient economies that can act as global-scale business hubs (Dubai was an early convert), Singapore’s authoritarian precedent also gives inspiration to states working out their security strategy. The Qatari leadership has long admired the Singapore model, as is evident from the evolution of the emirate’s security infrastructure.
Issue 815, 12 October 2007. more (Also see, Issue 815: Business prospects in the Qatari security industry)
Diplomacy: Qatar and the UAE’s most effective tool for security
Leaders of the smaller GCC states are increasingly prominent in the foreign visits they make. Such hectic international networking is not just for show: the newer generation of Gulf leaders see it delivering at a number of levels – not least helping to give them the security they crave.
Issue 811, 3 August 2007. more
Bond component dropped for Qatargas 4, as Qatar looks ahead to ‘$70bn’ project financing
Qatar continues to break project finance records, even if there is the odd glitch in the timing and content of loan structures. A buoyant market remains essential as the Doha government is looking to raise some $70bn in project finance by 2012.
Issue 805, 11 May 2007. more
Gas ties attract, overcome Chechen hangover
Qatar and Russia are gradually mending relations after the Chechen assassination crisis. Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ) has been on a two-day official visit to Moscow, holding talks with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Larov.
Issue 793, 10 November 2006. more
No retreat from the diplomatic high wire for Qatar’s Al-Thanis
Self-confidence is not lacking in Qatar, a decade after the palace coup that brought Emir Sheikh Hamad to power. Doha’s spectacular £8bn bid for Thames Water and glitzy Asian Games preparations are confirmation of the wealth underpinning a government that feels no need to soft peddle its independent thinking, while amassing huge assets abroad, as well as ploughing funds into developing domestic infrastructure.
Issue 791, 13 October 2006. more
Qatar’s increasingly active Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad
Following his unexpected promotion to become Crown Prince, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani’s main public role appeared to be confined to sport – importing top grade foreign athletes and footballers, chairing an extraordinary meeting of football’s governing body FIFA in Doha, and – in a reflection of his father Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani’s trust in him – heading up preparations to host the December 2006 Asian Games through the 15th Asian Games Panel.
Issue 765, 16 September 2005.more
Past loyalty the test as Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad moves to consolidate his rule
With his succession strengthened by the marriage of Crown Prince Tamim, Qatar’s Emir is no longer willing to overlook old transgressions.Factions and individuals unable to convince Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani of their absolute loyalty to his family and his vision for Qatar’s future now find themselves weeded out as the increasingly self-confident Emir consolidates his dominance. Analysis of recent developments in Doha suggest that Wahhabi sympathisers among the Al-Thani, once dissident Bedouin and members of rival clans within the ruling family who offer hostages to fortune are all vulnerable.
Issue 757,13 May 2005. more
Qatar’s Western communities the target of Twelfth Night bombing
The 19 March suicide attack on a soft expatriate target in Qatar showed that even those states where Islamist radicals have been allowed to live in parallel to Western communities are not immune from Jihadist violence.
Issue 754, 25 March 2005. more
Qatar sets timetable for change, long-term future for Al-Thanis
Sheikh Hamad has set a date to implement the new constitution, one year hence, but has yet to set an election date. While democracy breaks out in the Gulf’s boom economy the constitution also reinforces Al-Thani rule. Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has set a firm date for his new constitution that will set up a two-thirds elected parliament and guarantee basic rights to freedom of expression, assembly and religion.
Issue 737, 25 June 2004. more
Saudi Arabia gets serious with Qatar
Fuller details, and potentially some sensational reports, will emerge later, but meetings between senior Qataris and Saudis in the south of France, with Kuwait’s good offices, point to the seriousness of the rift between neighbours. Sources say they want to quietly make up, but the dispute is complicated by personal differences.
Issue 736, 11 June 2004.more
Qataris line up for a new political dispensation
Qatari notables are lining up to sit in the new parliament, after elections, probably to be held in 2005. As civil society gains momentum, can this tiny emirate provide a model for locally-inspired political development? Qatar’s first parliamentary poll is not expected until 2005, but members of the nominated Majlis Ash-Shura (Consultative Council) and municipal councils are already expressing interest in standing for national elected office.
Issue 732, 16 April 2004.more (For previous articles charting Qatar’s reform path please see: GSN 708/5, 690/6, 648/7).
Russians’ arrest leaves Doha facing sticky situation
The diplomatic repercussions of the 13 February assassination of exiled former Chechen leader Zelemkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar are being felt in Doha and Moscow after the Qatari authorities charged two members of Russia’s special services in connection with the killing.
Issue 729, 5 March 2004. more
Switch of princes rebalances power in Qatar
Far from spelling turmoil for the monarchy, the unexpected shift of princes in Qatar on 5 August will more likely lead to more robust government on the peninsula, and could strengthen the position of Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and his family (GSN 708/10).
Sheikh Hamad broke off a holiday in France to fly home and appoint the new Crown Prince, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. Sheikh Tamim, 24, replaces his older brother, the 25-year-old Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad, who had recently been rumoured to be on the way out – and who said on his exit that he had never wanted the job anyway.
Issue 716, 8 August 2003. more
Doha punches above its diplomatic weight
The independent foreign policy and sponsorship of Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel pursued by Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani may not always suit Western powers or conservative Arab states. But it is making Qatar a diplomatic force to be reckoned with, and one that is being courted assiduously by the USA and European powers.
Issue 683, 3 April 2002. more
