Qatar ex-PM loses powerful position on investment body
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Qatari former prime minister and foreign minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, speaks at a news conference on June 22, 2013. The former prime minister and strongman was Tuesday replaced as deputy head of the powerful Qatar Investment Authority in a shakeup ordered by the country's new young emir, official QNA news agency reported. (Pool/AFP/File)
Qatar's former prime minister and strongman was Tuesday replaced as deputy head of the powerful Qatar Investment Authority in a shakeup ordered by the country's new young emir, official QNA news agency reported.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani had already lost his post as foreign and prime minister when the new emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani announced his cabinet on June 26.
The emir decided in a decree to restructure the QIA's administrative council, of which he is the head, handing the vice presidency to his half-brother Prince Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Thani, QNA said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The decree also named Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi and Economy and Trade Minister Ahmed Bin Jassim Bin Mohamed al-Thani to the new administrative council.
Another decree appointed Ahmad Mohamad al-Sayed, managing director of Qatar Holdings, as executive chairman of the QIA.
The QIA, the gas-rich gulf emirate's sovereign wealth fund, has invested billions of dollars in businesses ranging from Germany's Volkswagen to French energy giant Total, Britain's Sainsbury's supermarket chain and Barclays Bank.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Its assets are estimated at $100-$200 billion (150 billion euros).