The emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa abdicated in favor of his 33-year-old son Sheikh Tamim on Tuesday, in a first for the Arab world

The emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa abdicated in favor of his 33-year-old son Sheikh Tamim on Tuesday, in a first for the Arab world.
  
"I announce handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani," the emir said in a televised speech. The decision marks the "beginning of a new era in which a young leadership will hold the banner," he added.
  
After the speech, Al-Jazeera television aired footage of citizens arriving at the palace in Doha to swear allegiance to Tamim, who stood next to his father to welcome the visitors.
  
Sheikh Hamad came to power in a coup in which he overthrew his own father Sheikh Khalifa in June 1995. The occasion was marked by the declaration of Tuesday as a public holiday.