American Muslim clockmaking teen accepts invite from QF to visit Doha

A 14-year-old boy arrested in Texas for building a clock that was thought to be a hoax bomb will be heading to Doha soon after receiving an invitation from Qatar Foundation (QF).

Ahmed Mohamed’s father Mohamed Elhassan Mohamad announced the trip in a statement, the Dallas Morning News reported yesterday on its Irving blog.

According to the newspaper, the invitation to visit Qatar and tour Education City came from QF after Ahmed met the Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu at the United Nations.

The teen had been touring the US after reports of him being handcuffed, arrested and questioned earlier this month went viral. He was briefly held by police on potential hoax bomb charges after taking a home-made clock into school to show his teacher.

Ahmed was suspended from McArthur High School for three days, but no formal charges were ultimately filed.

He got messages of support on Twitter from famous names including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Hilary Clinton, NASA and US President Barack Obama, who tweeted:

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.

— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015