The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, has defended the Iranian democracy that has witnessed four Presidents since the Iranian revolution thirty years ago. He added that during the same period, Presidents in some Arab countries have not changed, and so this shows that there is democracy in Iran. Sheikh Hamad digressed from the text of the speech that he was delivering yesterday in Paris during his three-day official visit to France. Sheikh Hamad met with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and a number of French officials, including the Prime Minister, President of the French Senate and the Mayor of Paris.
Sheikh Hamad carried out a white coup d'etat on June 27, 1995 against his father Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, who came to power in 1972. After the Mayor of Paris criticized what is going on in Iran, Sheikh Hamad said the protests and tension in Iran against the recent electoral results obtained by President Ahmadinejad are "things that take place in every democracy and this is what happened following the French Revolution."
Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë praised Qatar's success in combining between openness to modernity and the preservation of traditions. The French President also praised the joint diplomatic projects undertaken by Paris and Doha, referring specifically to the 2007 release of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor from Libyan prisons. Sarkozy also praised the Doha Agreement, which was signed in May 2008, and the Quartet summit at the Elysee Palace.
