HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MEETS WITH THE EMIR OF THE STATE OF QATAR HAMAD BIN KHALIFA AL THANI
02/23/2011
On 23 February 2011, His Holiness Aram I met with the Emir. Also attending the meeting were: Vice-Prime Minister Abdullah Attieh of Qatar, the members of the delegation of the Catholicos – Bishop Shahe Panossian, MP. Hagop Pakradouni and Rev. Mesrob Sarkissian – and the Lebanese Ambassador to Qatar, Hassan Saad.
The Catholicos thanked the Emir for the invitation and conveyed the greetings of the President of Lebanon, General Michel Suleiman. He then described Qatar as a country of moderation, dialogue and development, and said, “We appreciate the role of Qatar in the Arab and Muslim Worlds and its impact on the international community.”
Referring to the Doha Agreement of May 21, 2008, between rival Lebanese factions, the Emir said that he appreciated the role played by the Armenian community in Lebanon. In response, MP Hagop Pakradouni thanked the Sheikh for his support of the Armenians at that meeting. The Emir also spoke highly of the Armenian community in Qatar. At the end of the meeting, the Emir stated that he was donating a plot of land to the Armenian community in Qatar to build a Church and a Centre.
