QATARI HEIR APPARENT TAKES SECOND WIFE

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 000190 SIPDIS DHAKA FOR POL/ECON E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL INRB QA SUBJECT: QATARI HEIR APPARENT TAKES SECOND WIFE REF: 2008 DOHA 29 Classified By: Amb. Joseph LeBaron for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- (C) KEY POINTS -------------- -- The Qatari Heir Apparent, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, married a second wife in January. -- She is the daughter of Manna Abdul Hadi Al-Hajri, Qatar's Ambassador to Jordan. She is also related - it is unclear how closely - to Qatar's Ambassador to Washington, Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri. -------------- (C) COMMENT -------------- -- One source speculated that the Heir Apparent's second marriage may be part of an attempt to extend the gene pool for future leadership. He noted that the current Amir had to go "four deep" among his sons to select Sheikh Tamim as Crown Prince, as he is the Amir's fourth son overall, and the second by his second wife and consort Sheikha Mozah. End Key Points and Comment. ¶1. (C) Reliable sources indicate the new wife is currently a sophomore at Georgetown University's branch campus at Education City. ¶2. (C) The marriage has not been announced publicly. One possible reason is the woman's young age. Moreover, another marriage so soon after his first (January 2005) could be seen socially as bad form. A source in the Al-Hajri family told us that Sheikha Mozah selected the new wife. ¶3. (C) Sheikh Tamim and his first wife, Sheikha Jawaher, who is also his first cousin, have at least two children, but details on the family are scarce. The first child was reportedly a daughter (NFI) and there is a son named Hamad who was born October 20, 2008 in the UK. LeBaron