Texas teenager arrested for homemade clock to move to Qatar

Manama: Ahmad Mohammad, the 14-year old American student who was arrested in Texas after taking a homemade clock to school, will be studying in Qatar after he accepted a scholarship from Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.

“Ahmad is the latest recipient of a scholarship from the Young Innovators Programme, which supports young, exceptional Arabs by offering educational opportunities in Qatar,” the foundation said in a statement.

“The programme encourages recipients to follow their aspirations in education while fostering a culture of innovation and creativity. Qatar Foundation’s education cycle aims to provide world-class education from pre-primary to doctorate level.”

Mohammad’s family released a statement on Tuesday saying they had accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation. The family has been “overwhelmed by the many offers of support” since Ahmad’s arrest on September 14 at his school in Irving, a Dallas suburb.

Mohammad, who along with his family will relocate to Qatar, received a full scholarship for his secondary and undergraduate education. He said he was impressed with the programme and thinks he’ll “learn a lot and have fun, too”.

More than 6,000 students are enrolled across Qatar Foundation schools, Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar Foundation’s partner-universities including, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar, HEC Paris in Qatar and UCL Qatar.

“Ahmad and his family were invited to visit Qatar Foundation earlier this month in recognition of his creative capabilities that have earned him invitations to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University and more recently, the White House, where he met US President Obama at the White House Astronomy Night,” the statement said.

“QF [Qatar Foundation] values its multiculturalism, diversity and non-discriminatory atmosphere, and is happy to welcome Ahmad to the Young Innovators Programme. QF is glad to welcome the family to Doha and provide Ahmad with the opportunity to develop his skills and excel in future endeavours,” it said.

After accepting the scholarship, Ahmad said he was “really impressed with everything that Qatar Foundation has to offer and the campuses are really cool.”

“I got to meet other kids who are also really interested in science and technology. I think I will learn a lot and also have lots of fun there,” he said,

Qatar Foundation is establishing a tradition to motivate young talents to flourish after studying through its education cycle.

Palestinian Iqbal Al Assad became the youngest ever medical graduate from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar in 2013, and Sudanese Mursi Khalid Mursi Saleh began studying at Qatar Academy in 2006 and is the first child from the Middle East to become a member of Mensa — the most prestigious IQ society in the world.

Another young innovator is Raji Al Hammouri who studied at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and is currently pursuing graduate studies at MIT, Qatar Foundation said.

Ahmad took a homemade clock to his high school to show a teacher, but another teacher thought it could be a bomb. The school contacted police, who handcuffed the boy and took him to a detention centre. The school suspended him for three days.

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 Ahmad with having a hoax bomb, and the police chief has said there was no evidence the teen meant to cause alarm. His parents later withdrew him from the school.

— With inputs from AP