The Modern History of Qatar

Modern State Building and Preludes to Independence

II: The Reign of Shaykh Ahmad bin Ali, 1960-1971

 Shaykh Ahmad bin Ali’s Reign
Shaykh Ahmad bin Ali born c. 1920 in Doha, ruled
Qatar 1960-1971, after his father, Shaykh Ali,
abdicated.
1960: Shaykh Khalifa bin Hamad became crown
prince with the agreement of the ruling family.
Period of rapid development in Qatar due to oil
revenue
Qatar became more closely related to larger Arab
society and its Gulf neighbors
 Key Transformations, 1961-1972
Increasing financial resources = major
administrative and executive developments
Most important transformations of the early years:
I: 1960: Cancellation of position of British advisor to the
Shaykh (Hancock) – had been in effective control of all
government agencies
Shaykh Khalifa bin Hamad, the Crown Prince, took
over British advisor’s, and became similar to a
President.
Shaykh Khalifa quickly took responsibility for
government planning, policies and execution.
 Key Transformations, 1961-1970
 1962: Dr. Hassan Kamil (Egyptian) became Director of the General
Government (new position). Supervised government agencies and major
ministries.
 British political agent remained (Mr. Moberly). New British General Consul
responsible for consular affairs was added. Political agent stayed until 1971,
but his responsibilities decreased.
II. Organic law (constitution) issued, 1970 cabinet formed.
III. 1971: Qatar obtained political independence from the British,
position of British political agent terminated.
IV: New oilfields discovered, offshore drilling in Qatar’s regional waters,
increased revenue
V: 1971: Qatar joined the Arab League after independence, reflects
increased involvement in the Arab world and interest in Arab affairs
especially in 1960’s when Arab nationalism spread.
 Administrative Structure
Oil economy = modernizing administrative system.
Government organization:
I: The Ruler (the Emir): sovereignty and ultimate authority over the executive, legislative and
judicial arms of government. Exercised those powers himself or through the crown prince. Until
independence he was called “the Ruler”, after independence the “Emir.”
II: Crown Prince: Ruler’s Deputy. Responsible for:
1. Planning government projects and submitting them to the Ruler for approval.
2. Suggesting laws
3. Issuing administrative decisions and regulations
4. Plans executed by the President, the Finance Minister and the President of the
Judicial Council.
 1960’s: Rising importance of the Crown Prince, Shaykh Khalifa bin Hamad. He
served as Director of Security, President of the Judicial Council, and first Minister of
Finance in 1960 (Ministry of Finance second ministry after Ministry of Education in
1957).
 Legal and Legislative Developments
1960: Dr. Hassan Kamil became legal advisor to the
government, Qatar moved towards a modern legislative
system to keep up with fast-paced developments.
Series of laws organizing Qatar’s affairs and administration,
including:
 Law #1: Founded an official gazette for publishing all the laws
and regulations issued by the state
Law #2, Qatar Nationality Law of 1961
Law #3, Company Law
 Law #4, Regulating private professions such as medicine,
pharmacy, dentistry, etc.
 1960’s: witnessed also the issuing of laws related to
administrative organization.
 Most important administrative developments: 1962
 Law organizing a higher administration for government agencies was issued.
Chaired by Dr. Hassan Kamil, supervised by crown prince and Ruler’s deputy. The
higher administration was responsible for:
1. Preparing public policy, basis of extensive government role in economic,
social, cultural and administrative affairs
2. Monitoring the government
3. Appointing and relieving public officials
General administration was made up of three main arms:
 Administrative affairs agency, Financial affairs agency, Oil affairs agency. Later a
legal affairs agency was added. After increases in infrastructure, social services,
health and education projects, government agencies were formed for all of these.
By the beginning of the 70’s the administrative structure had 33 agencies.
 Foreign affairs: under British control until 1968 when the Foreign Affairs Department
was established, this was basis for the Foreign Ministry established at
independence in 1971.
The Qatari government building in the late 1960’s
 The Judicial Authority
Before oil, the judiciary in Qatar was based on the framework of the
tribe. No written regulations or laws.
Rulings related to conflicts on land referred to tribal shaykhs or the
Shar’i judge.
Ship captains dealt with pearling-related conflicts at sea.
1913: Shaykh Abdullah bin Jassim called on Shaykh Muhammad bin
Abd al-Aziz al-Mani’, a famous jurist, to develop the Qatari judiciary.
He built a special building, known as the school, in the Jisra area of
Doha, and he taught and settled disputes there. He resigned in
1938.
Judges issued oral rulings. If a litigant requested a written ruling, the
judge would provide one, but judges did not have records of cases
and rulings and there were no court scribes to create records.
 The Judicial Authority
1941: Shaykh Abdullah appointed Shaykh Abdullah bin Zayd Al
Mahmoud as head of the judiciary in Qatar.
Shaykh Abdullah bin Zayd established and chaired a Sharia court in
Doha
Started a system for keeping records of cases and rulings, appointed
Shaykh Hassan bin Muhammad al-Jaber to record testimonies and
marriage contracts, and Shaykh Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Ansari to
oversee urgent cases, sign marriage contracts and issue decisions
and testimonials.
After Shaykh Ansari died al-Sayyid Ibrahim bin Yousuf al-Sade was
appointed in his place.
Chair’s Office of the Sharia court in Doha in
the 1960’s
 Judicial Authority
1958: Directorate of the Sharia courts established, Shaykh Abdullah
bin Zayd Al Mahmoud first chair.
1962: Law #4 created Labor Court to deal with expansion of
government agencies, increase in population, and increasingly
complicated labor cases.
1968, Traffic Court
1969, Municipal Affairs court dealing with cases related to facilities
and building codes.
This court was abolished in 1970, replaced by a regular Qatari circuit
court
Large scale presence of foreigners created new judicial problems that
the Sharia court could not deal with, so the court of the British political
agent was created. This court was abolished with independence in
1971 and its jurisdiction went to Qatari courts.
 Economic Development
Oil fields discovered during the reign of Shaykh Ahmad bin Ali:
1. Jaunary 1964, production started in the Idd al-Shargi Field, first
offshore field developed
2. 1963 larger field, Maydan Mahzam, discovered
3. 1965 large station for collecting oil from offshore fields established
on Halul Island.
4. 1965, discoveries in the Abu al-Hanin field, production started there
in 1977.
1961: Qatar joined OPEC, a year after its establishment in Baghdad.
The organization’s goal was to set a fair price for oil, important for
increasing the country’s resources.
 Currency Developments
Currencies Qatar used before oil: French riyal, Mother Theresa dollar,
Turkish lira (Ottoman period 1871-1915), Indian rupee post WWI,
1958 the red Gulf Rupee issued by the Indian Government.
1961: Kuwait issued the Kuwaiti dinar, this encouraged the other
emirates in the Gulf to issue their own currency.
1964: Qatar National Bank (QNB) founded, first bank owned 50% by
the government and 50% by Qatari citizens.
Development of oil revenue created need for a national currency.
Qatar and Dubai agreed to create the Qatar Dubai currency council,
issued a new currency in 1966, the Qatar Dubai riyal.
1973 (reign of Shaykh Khalifa bin Hamad): new Qatar Currency
Agency issued Qatari riyal after Dubai joined the United Arab
Emirates.
 The British Withdrawal from Qatar and the Gulf
1968: British Labor Government decided to withdraw from Qatar before
1971. British reasons:
1. Increased presence of the US and its oil concessions in the region
and the US’s insistence that the British follow open market policies.
2. Increasing spread of Arab nationalism and anti-colonial sentiment in
the Gulf and Qatar.
3. Soviet activities extending their ideology to the southern part of the
Arabian peninsula.
4. Decay of British economic power after WWII, need to decrease
military expenses.
5. British public opinion pressured the government to stop paying to
protect the oil interests of the countries benefitting from the region.
6. British government realized that its traditional military presence in the
region was unnecessary considering new weapons technology,
especially long-range missile bases and aircraft carriers. No need for
 The Unification Project with the UAE, 1968
 Feb. 1968: Qatar involved in project to create a United Arab Federation in
the Gulf. Discussions started after British announced 1971 withdrawal.
Rulers of the nine Gulf emirates (Ras al-Khaymah, Sharjah, Dubai, Fujairah,
Um Quwain, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain) tried to create a
federation to fill the power vacuum
 25-27 Feb.: nine rulers met in Dubai, issued the Dubai Agreement,
stipulated creation of a federation of the nine Arab emirates.
Federation project terminated because of competition between federation
members. Qatar saw itself as qualified to take a leadership position based
on its progress in politics, its economic development and its regional
position.
Qatar built modern state institutions, issued its basic law (constitution) and
created a cabinet on 28 May 1970.
 Qatar’s Participation in International Organizations
Before Independence
 Qatar had an international reputation independent of the British
before 1971 Britain due to:
Limiting the role of the British political agent to consular affairs. Last
political agent was Edward Henderson.
 Qatar had state-like legal characteristics before independence.
Early 1960’s: Qatar participated in regional and international
activities, joined UN technical and cultural organizations (UNESCO,
the World Health Organization, etc.)
Participated in international Arab conferences related to politics and
the economy: OPEC conferences and conferences related to the Arab
boycott of Israel. In 1963 Qatar established an office devoted to
boycotting Israel.
Qatar was among the first to call for the establishment of a shared
Gulf market.
 The Basic Law of 1970 (The Constitution)
2 July 1970: Temporary basic law issued, first cabinet created on 28
May.
Developed constitutional political climate, political freedoms,
guarantees of equality and justice between citizens.
Temporary basic law: 77 articles in 5 sections on system of
governance, essential principles of state policy, organization of
general authority, defining authorities, rights and duties of citizenry
Stipulated that Qatar is an Arab Islamic country, issuing laws in
accordance with the Islamic Sharia, and its people are part of the
Arab Ummah. State of Qatar would work to strengthen its ties with
neighbors and allies, to struggle for Arab causes, most importantly the
Palestinian cause, to support the Arab nations, to commit to the
charter of the Arab League and the UN, and to strengthen ties
between Arab nations in order to achieve unity.
 The Basic Law of 1970
 Emir (Ruler of Qatar) has executive authority, assisted by the Crown
Prince (Deputy Ruler), and the cabinet, appointed by the Ruler.
Article 22 of the Temporary Basic Law stipulated that the rulership of
the state is inherited within the Al Thani family.
Because of the issuance of this law in 1970, the 33 government
agencies were changed into 10 ministries on 28 May 1970, and the
first cabinet met on 3 June 1970.
 Legislative: basic law created advisory council to discuss the legal
bills suggested by the council of ministers before they were submitted
to the ruler for ratification and issuance. Council would also discuss
state policy in any field including political, economic and social affairs.
 1971: Independence
Political independence September 1, 1971 after cancelling the 1916
protection treaty. The treaty left foreign policy in British control, so by
cancelling it Qatar became free of British restrictions.
Shaykh Khalifa bin Hamad, the crown prince and deputy ruler at the
time of independence, issued an announcement of independence at
that time including the following:
1.Ending the treaty relationships between Britain and Qatar
2. Ending the agreements, commitments and regulations signed with
the British government
3.Qatar became an independent state responsible for its own affairs
4. Qatar’s joining the Arab League and the United Nations
5. Support for the rights of the Palestinian people
6. Establishment of a Foreign Ministry led by the crown prince
7. Exchanging the protection treaty for a treaty of friendship between
Qatar and the British.
 1971: Independence
3 September 1971, Qatar becomes independent by terminating the
1916 British protection treaty
 11 September: member of the Arab League
16 September: member of the UN
Qatar was under British protection for 55 years, 1916-1971
22 February 1972 Shaykh Khalifa bin Hamad, the deputy Ruler and
the crown prince, became the new Emir of Qatar.