Muslim Teen Arrested over Homemade Clock Moving to Qatar
The Texas teen who was arrested last month after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb is moving to Qatar.
Most residents in Qatar follow the strict Wahhabi version of Islam and the government is run according to harsh Islamic sharia law.
The announcement came after young Ahmed Mohamed met with President Barack Obama this week. Obama invited him to the White House for astronomy night after hearing the news of Ahmed's arrest in September.
The 14-year-old Muslim teen was suspended for three days from his school in Irving, Texas, because of concerns over his homemade clock.
A police photo of the device shows a carrying case containing a circuit board and power supply wired to a digital display. Police ultimately chose not to charge Ahmed with having a hoax bomb.
The teen has been making the most of his newfound fame, embarking on a worldwide tour that included a stop at the White House Monday and an appearance at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.
"I'm glad that this happened to me because I can spread my word out to the people, and tell them that it's not by the color of your skin or your religion, but it's by their heart," Ahmed said.
Perhaps the most unusual visit Ahmed has made has been to Sudan, to meet with radical Islamic dictator Omar al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes for atrocities linked to the Darfur fighting.
Ahmed's father is a Sudanese immigrant to the United States and a former presidential candidate in Sudan who ran opposing al-Bashir.
Now Ahmed's father says he's taking his family away from the United States, moving them to Qatar in the Middle East where they'll be surrounded by people of the same religion.
"We are going to move to a place where my kids can study and learn, and all of them being accepted by that country," Ahmed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told The Dallas Morning News.
A foundation has offered to pay for Ahmed's high school and college in Qatar.
