Al Jazeera English · updated 2026-07-13

Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani Reigned as the Emir of Qatar From 1995 Until 2013

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“SHEIKH HAMAD STEPPED DOWN IN 2013 AT THE AGE OF 41 AND TRANSFERRED POWER TO HIS SON”

covered 2026-07-13 ▶ Be on the air with Al Jazeera English

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This storyWhich of Sheikh Hamad's moves most reshaped the Middle East?

  • Founding Al Jazeera in 1996 0%
  • Hosting US Al Udeid Air Base 0%
  • Mediating Hamas-Israel talks 0%
  • Abdicating peacefully in 2013 0%

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Graham Boyce served as UK Ambassador to Qatar.

As the UK's top diplomat in Doha, Boyce dealt directly with Qatar's government and its foreign policy. That firsthand experience inside the Gulf state makes him a rare voice on Qatari affairs and regional diplomacy.

Theros was U.S. Ambassador to Qatar when Al Jazeera launched!

Theros served in Doha from 1995–1998 — the same years Al Jazeera Arabic debuted (1996). Now a Gulf International Forum fellow, he brings rare firsthand diplomatic experience to the very region he helped shape.

Theros was U.S. Ambassador to Qatar during its 1995 palace coup.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani ousted his own father in a bloodless coup that year, launching Qatar's modernization push — and Al Jazeera the year after. Theros witnessed it firsthand as America's top diplomat in Doha.

Sultan Barakat has advised on reconstruction in Iraq, Afghanistan & Yemen.

A leading scholar on post-conflict rebuilding at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Barakat founded the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies — making him a key voice on how war-torn societies recover.

This storyIn what year did Doha officially become Qatar's capital city?

  1. 1916
  2. 1939
  3. 1971
  4. 1985
Guess, then reveal the answer

1971

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