Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
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| Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة |
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| Reign | 6 March 1999 – present |
| Coronation | 14 February 2002 |
| Predecessor | Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa |
| Heir apparent | Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa |
| Prime Ministers | Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa |
| Spouse | Sabika bint Ibrahim (1968–present) Sheia bint Hassan Al-Khrayyesh Al-Ajmi 2 others |
| Issue | |
| Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Abdullah Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa Najla bint Hamad Al Khalifa Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa Faisal ibn Hamad Al Khalifa Sultan bin Hamad Al Khalifa Hessa bint Hamad Al Khalifa Nura bint Hamad Al Khalifa Munira bint Hamad Al Khalifa Reema bint Hamad Al Khalifa |
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| House | Al-Khalifa |
| Father | Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa |
| Mother | Hessa bint Salman Al Khalifa |
| Born | 28 January 1950 [1] Riffa, British Bahrain  , |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (Arabic: حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة; born 28 January 1950, Riffa, Bahrain) is the King of Bahrain (since 14 February 2002), having previously been its Emir (from 6 March 1999).[2] He is the son of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the previous Emir.
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[edit] Early life and education
Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa was born on 28 January 1950 in Riffa, Bahrain. His parents were Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa who in 1950 was the Crown Prince and Hessa bint Salman Al Khalifa. After attending Manama Secondary School in Bahrain, Hamad was sent to England to complete the remainder of his education. He attended Applegarth College in Godalming, Surrey before taking a place at The Leys School in Cambridge. Hamad then underwent military training, first with the British Army at Mons Officer Cadet School at Aldershot in Hampshire, graduating in September 1968.[1] Four years later in June 1972 Hamad attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, graduating the following June with a degree in leadership.[3][4]
[edit] Reign
On the death of his father Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Hamad became Emir of Bahrain on 6 March 1999.[2] As Emir, Hamad brought several political reforms to Bahrain. These included the release of all political prisoners, the dissolution of the State Security Court and the abolition of the 1974 Decree on State Security Measures. Additionally, many Bahraini citizens were permitted to return after several years in exile overseas.[5] In 2002 he declared himself king.
[edit] Crown prince
King Hamad was designated as heir apparent by his father on 27 June 1964. In 1968 King Hamad was appointed as the Chairman of the Irrigation Council and Manama Municipal Council. He was commissioned into the Bahrain National Guard on 16 February 1968 and appointed as its commander the same year, remaining in that post until 1969 when he was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force. In 1970 King Hamad became the head of the Bahraini Department of Defence and the Vice-Chairman of the Administrative Council, remaining in both offices until 1971. From 1971 to 1988 he was the Minister of State for Defence.[4]
In October 1977, King Hamad started learning to fly helicopters, successfully completing the training in January 1978. He then worked to establish the Bahrain Amiri Air Force[3] which came into being in 1987 when the Defence Force air wing was reconstituted as an air force.
[edit] Bahrain uprising
On 14 February 2011, the tenth anniversary of a referendum in favour of the National Action Charter, Bahrain was rocked by massive protests inspired by the Arab spring and coordinated by a Facebook page named "Day of Rage in Bahrain", a page that was liked by more than 90,000 people just one week after its creation. The Bahrain government responded with what has been described as a "brutal" crackdown[6][7][8] on the protest, including shocking violations of human rights that caused massive anger. Later on, demonstrators demanded that Hamad step down.[9]
[edit] Prince William wedding decline
King Hamad was invited to the royal wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton. He declined amidst protests by human rights activists who had pledged to disrupt his stay in Britain because of his violent response to demonstrators.[10] Earlier in 2005, he was the only sovereign head of state to attend the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles.
[edit] Views on Israel
According to wikileaks, Bahrain's King Hamad boasted of his ties with Israel's intelligence services and told his government to stop referring to the Jewish state as the "Zionist enemy," a leaked US cable from 2005 showed.
The cable, which was given exclusively to Israel's Haaretz newspaper by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, was written after talks between the king and Washington's ambassador to Bahrain, William Monroe, in February of that year.
"He revealed that Bahrain already has contacts with Israel at the intelligence/security level (i.e. with Mossad) and indicated that Bahrain will be willing to move forward in other areas," Monroe wrote, referring to Israel's spy agency.
The cable also indicated King Hamad had ordered his public information minister to stop referring to Israel as the "Zionist entity" or "enemy" in official statements, Haaretz quoted the cable as saying.
But the king reportedly baulked at the idea of establishing trade ties with Israel, saying it would have to wait until the establishment of a Palestinian state, it said.
The cable was leaked as the Gulf kingdom struggles with a wave of protests led by the Shiite majority against the ruling Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty.
Israel and Bahrain do not have diplomatic relations, and two years ago, MPs in Manama tried to push through a law outlawing any contact with the Jewish state, which would have seen offenders slapped with a $27,000 fine and up to seven years in jail.[11]
[edit] One of America's Unsavory Allies
Foreign Policy, a bimonthly American magazine classified Hamad as one of the bad guys the U.S. still supports, due to the massive crackdown on mainly Shiite protesters during the Arab Spring in Bahrain. He was put in number 3 out of 8.[12]
[edit] Family
King Hamad has four wives and in total twelve children, seven sons and five daughters:
- He married his first wife, Queen Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, at Rifa’a on 9 October 1968. Together they have three sons and one daughter:
- HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain (born 21 October 1969)
- HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa (born 30 June 1975)
- HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa (born 4 June 1977)
- HH Sheikha Najla bint Hamad Al Khalifa (born 20 May 1981)
- His second wife, Sheikha Sheia bint Hassan Al-Khrayyesh Al-Ajmi, is a lady from Kuwait. Together they have two sons:
- HH Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa (born 8 May 1987)
- HH Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa (born 23 September 1989)
- He also has a third wife, a lady from Qatar, with whom he has two sons and four daughters:
- HH Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad Al Khalifa (12 February 1992 - 12 January 2006), died in a fatal car accident
- HH Sheikh Sultan bin Hamad Al Khalifa
- HH Sheikha Hessa bint Hamad Al Khalifa
- HH Sheikha Nura bint Hamad Al Khalifa
- HH Sheikha Munira bint Hamad Al Khalifa
- HH Sheikha Reema bint Hamad Al Khalifa
- He does not have any children with his fourth wife, a lady from Qatar.
[edit] Titles and styles
| Monarchical styles of The King of Bahrain |
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| Reference style | His Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Sheikh |
- 28 January 1950 – 16 December 1961: Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
- 16 December 1961 – 27 June 1964: His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
- 27 June 1964 – 6 March 1999: His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Heir Apparent of Bahrain
- 6 March 1999 – 14 February 2002: His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain
- 14 February 2002 – present: His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain[2]
[edit] Honours and awards
Hamad has received numerous honours, for example:
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordan (1 February 1967)[4]
Order of the Two Rivers, 1st class (Iraq, 22 February 1969)[4]
Order of Muhammad (Morocco, 16 October 1970)[4]- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Renaissance (Jordan, 1 September 1972)[4]
Collar of the Order of the Republic of Egypt (24 January 1973)[4]
Collar of the Order of the Crown (Iran, 28 April 1973)[4]
Collar of Abdulaziz al Saud (Saudi Arabia, 4 April 1976)[4]
Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 1st class (8 October 1977)[4]
Order of the Republic of Mauritania, 1st class (4 April 1978)[4]
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (UK, 15 February 1979)[4]
Grand Conqueror of Libya, 1st class (1 September 1979)[4]
Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (2006)[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States". Bahrainembassy.org. http://www.bahrainembassy.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=section.home&id=38. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
- ^ a b c "Country Profiles Bahrain" The Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity Retrieved 2010-12-01
- ^ a b "HM the King". Kingdom of Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Government of Bahrain. http://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=137&language=en-US. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "The Royal Ark - The Al-Khalifa Dynasty". http://www.royalark.net/Bahrain/bahrain10.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
- ^ (pdf) Bahrain: Promising human rights reform must continue. Amnesty International. 2001-03-13. Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE11/005/2001/en/d76b504c-f84c-11dd-a0a9-2bd73ca4d38a/mde110052001en.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
- ^ Law, Bill (6 April 2011). "Police Brutality Turns Bahrain Into 'Island of Fear'. Crossing Continents (via BBC News). Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ Press release (30 March 2011). "USA Emphatic Support to Saudi Arabia". Zayd Alisa (via Scoop). Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ Cockburn, Patrick (18 March 2011). "The Footage That Reveals the Brutal Truth About Bahrain's Crackdown – Seven Protest Leaders Arrested as Video Clip Highlights Regime's Ruthless Grip on Power". The Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ Staff writer (18 February 2011). "Bahrain Mourners Call for End to Monarchy – Mood of Defiance Against Entire Ruling System After Brutal Attack on Pearl Square Protest Camp That Left at Least Five Dead". London: Associated Press (via The Guardian). Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/18/bahrain-mourners-call-downnfall-monarchy. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
- ^ The Times Of India. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/hindu-jain-sikh-muslim-leaders-invited-to-royal-wedding/articleshow/8088464.cms.
- ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g5XWdbp3DmLdK-3cL1-AlZjbI-rg?docId=CNG.df8b4b9dbec22272702ca1de92279174.8f1
- ^ URI FRIEDMAN (28 October 2011). "America's Unsavory Allies". Foreign Policy. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/28/america_unsavory_allies?page=0,2. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah |
- The Monarchy - official website of the Bahrain Embassy
- The New Amir of Bahrain: Marching Sideways, Abdulhadi Khalaf, Civil Society, Volume 9, Issue 100, April 2000
- The King’s Dilemma: Obstacles to Political Reforms In BahrainPDF (227 KB), Abdulhadi Khalaf, Fourth Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, European University Institute, March 2003
- Generational change and elite-driven reforms in the Kingdom of Bahrain. (Sir William Luce Fellowship Paper No. 7) Dr. Steven Wright (2006) Institute for Middle East and Islamic Studies, University of Durham, (PDF Format)
- Bahrian: The Royals rule, Le Monde Diplomatique, March 2005
- An Arab exception: Reform in Bahrain The Economist, 29 July 2004 (requires subscription)
- Genealogy of the Al-Khalifa Dynasty, Page 10 - website The Royal Ark
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Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Born: 28 January 1950 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa |
Emir of Bahrain 1999–2002 |
Succeeded by Himself as King of Bahrain |
| Preceded by Himself as Emir of Bahrain |
King of Bahrain 2002–present |
Incumbent Heir apparent: Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa |
