Sheikh Khalifa, at 84, former ruler of Qatar

Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the former emir of the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar who was deposed by his son in a bloodless palace coup, died yesterday.

The emiri diwan, or royal court, announced the death of the 84-year-old former ruler. State TV quickly cut from its regular programming, airing Quranic recitations late into the night.

The current emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the deceased ruler’s grandson, declared three days of mourning in the energy-rich nation, which juts into the Persian Gulf off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and will host the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Sheikh Khalifa had not held power since 1995, when he was deposed by his son, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, while vacationing in Switzerland. Sheikh Hamad, then defense minister, said at the time that seizing power was necessary because of unspecified “difficult circumstances” and internal issues facing the country.

Sheikh Khalifa’s son had long been seen as the real power in the OPEC member nation in the years before he was overthrown, making the surprise move in many ways little more than a formality.

Sheikh Khalifa oversaw a rapid modernization of his country, which accelerated after it began to exploit vast reserves of natural gas that have turned it into one of the world’s richest nations per capita.

After Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded nearby Kuwait in 1990, Sheikh Khalifa joined other Arab leaders in making his country’s military facilities available to the U.S.-led coalition assembled to liberate the small Gulf nation.