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His Highness the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, was born in Doha in 1950.
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He received primary, preparatory, and secondary education in Qatari schools. Later on he attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in the United Kingdom. After his graduation in July 1971, he joined the ranks of the Qatari Armed Forces as a major and was appointed commander of the First Mobile Battalion, now named �Hamad Mobile Battalion�.
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HH was later on promoted major general and was appointed Commander-in Chief of the Qatari armed forces.
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HH played a pivotal role in upgrading, expanding, and modernising the armed forces, in which he incorporated new units equipped with the most modern weaponry, and ensured an advanced standard of military training for the rank and file.
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He was sworn allegiance and support as Heir Apparent on May 31, 1977, and was appointed Defence Minister on the same day.
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HH was appointed Supreme President of the Higher Planning Council, considered the corner stone of the modern state�s edifice
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HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has been running the country for the past few years.
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HH presided over the Higher Youth Council from its establishment in 1979 until 1991. HH has accorded great care and attention to sports and youths activities, through the Higher Council for Youth, Clubs, and Sports
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HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani is regarded as the patron of the present civil and military sporting renaissance in Qatar. He founded the first Military Sports Federation, and secured membership of the International Military Sports Federation.
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HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani accorded youth and sport such care and attention out of his firm beliefs in the development of society.
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HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has sponsored many conferences on a variety of topics, taken part in numerous Gulf and Arab conferences and paid visits to many countries around the world.
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HH has received numerous orders of merit awarded by Arab and other countries in appreciation of his role in promoting bilateral ties and broadening the scope of co-operation between Qatar and each of these countries.
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HH had conferred upon him the Oman Order of Merit from the Sultanate of Oman in 1975, the Sash of the Nile from Egypt in 1976, and the Saudi King Abdul Aziz�s Order of Merit in 1976. His Highness has also received high-class orders of merit from Indonesia in 1977, Venezuela in 1977, Britain 1979, France in 1981, and Lebanon in 1986.
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