Two new faces were inducted into the State Cabinet in a major reshuffle yesterday, while apex bodies like the Supreme Education Council and the Supreme Council for Family Affairs have been reconstituted. The inductees into the cabinet are H E Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud and H E Abdullah bin Khalid Al Qahtani. While Al Mahmoud has been appointed as Minister of Education and Higher Education, Al Qahtani will take over as Minister of Public Health. An Emiri Decree was issued yesterday by the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, formalising the ministerial appointments. The appointments become effective after being published in the official gazette, Qatar News Agency reported. The former health minister, H E Dr Ghalia bint Mohamed bin Hamad Al Thani, has been appointed a member of the Supreme Council for Health whose vice-chairperson is H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, as per another Emiri Decree issued yesterday. Two other Emiri Decrees issued reconstitute the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and the Supreme Education Council. Al Qahtani holds a master’s degree in accounting and finance and was the Director-General of the high-profile Doha Asian Games Organising Committee which successfully supervised the holding of the prestigious sporting event in the country. He is now pursuing PhD from the Manchester University and has worked with the Qatar National Bank (QNB) in the recent past as well in a senior position. He is also a member of the board of the Supreme Council for Health, which was set up recently. Between 1990 and 1998, Al Qahtani has had a stint at the Qatar University as an assistant lecturer. He is Undersecretary at the Ministry of Business and Trade since 2007. The Supreme Council for Family Affairs has a new chairperson, H E Sheikha Hessa bint Hamad Al Thani, according to Emiri Decree (No. 23 of 2009). Dr Juhaina Al Issa is the vice-chairperson. The Heir Apparent is the Chairman of the Supreme Education Council while H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned is the vice-chairperson. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=April2009&file=Local_News20090429755.xml

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