QNA/Kuwait

Kuwait daily newspaper Al Wassat has named HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani the ‘Person of the Year’ for 2013 describing him as “The builder of modern Qatar” and  enumerated the unprecedented historic achievements accomplished in the State of Qatar during his reign.

The paper published yesterday in its front page a large-size image of HH the Father Emir, accompanied with an article written by its chief editor in which he has enumerated HH the Father Emir’s “great achievements  that moved his country at an accelerated pace on the scale of glory until it became a luminous star in the sky.”

Referring to the decision of HH the Father Emir to hand the reins of power to HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani,  the editor says the Father Emir’s gesture  to abdicate and to hand over power to his young son “has laid the foundations for a good precedent as he wanted to convey a clear message that passion for the people and the nation is greater than remaining in power, despite the volume of the growth achieved in his reign and after Qatar came to the forefront of the most developed nations where sectors have been competing and preceded by the growth of the Qatari people”.

He said HH the Father Emir arrived at the conviction that love of Qatar and its people requires handing over the banner to HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, “in order to give the state a youthful boost and high spirit that will push it towards further progress in the modern era ,” especially as  the Qatari people are young, ambitious and qualified, and have the potential to succeed on the foundations laid by the wise leadership.

Such qualities enabled Qatar to come to the forefront of nations and fulfil the aspirations  of the people in all areas, foremost of which was education, culture and sport, the article said.

The editor said the Qatari leadership, both during the reign of HH the Father Emir and HH the Emir, has adopted practical principles of governance and drawn up plans to build a modern Qatar. It also  took steps to enable the Qatari citizens to assume the responsibility of implementing those plans.

Inside yesterday’s edition of Al Wassat, the paper has allocated four full pages featuring pictures of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HH the Father Emir during different occasions. An accompanying article recounts the success which the State of Qatar achieved in various political, economic, social and sports fields.

The article says that the Qatari people are yielding the fruits of years of effort exerted to achieve development in all fields.

The paper has paid special attention to the efforts of the Qatar’s leadership in supporting the issues of world peace  and its particular effort to find solutions to the problems facing the countries of the region, rendering Doha the capital of  peace and a platform for dialogue between conflicting parties in the world.

On the close bilateral relations between Qatar and Kuwait, Al Wassat has said that the ties have seen tremendous development in the era of the HH Father Emir until Qatari and Kuwaiti.

It added that HH the Father Emir sought to consolidate ties with his Arab brothers, especially Gulf peoples through foreign visits and participation in political and economic activities and forums that contribute to conflict resolution in the Middle East and work for finding realistic solutions to economic crises.

Due to the special nature of the Qatari-Kuwaiti relations, Kuwait has been keen to participate with high-level delegations in all political and economic conferences hosted by the State of Qatar under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani .

At the same time HH the Father Emir has been keen to participate in many events organised by Kuwait at the invitation of the Emir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, most important of which was  the Arab Economic Summit hosted by Kuwait in December 2010.

The newspaper pointed out that HH the Father Emir left power “but did not leave the hearts of the people of Qatar, who are now yielding the fruits of the tremendous achievements during the past years in economic, social, health, cultural and educational sectors as well as in the area of services of which the Qatari, Gulf and all Arabs are proud. HH the Father Emir left fingerprints and his humanitarian touches on many peoples of the Arab and Islamic countries and the entire world”, the paper said concluding that HH the Father Emir achieved for Qatar a bright glory securing it a foothold on the world political map alongside big and advanced countries and rendered Doha a capital of peace and a platform for dialogues and forums in various fields.

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