Ahmed "Clockmed the Science Genius" Mohamed and his family have decided to flee the country after a brief conversation with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday. Mohamed, who rose to national prominence after taking apart an old clock and putting the parts inside a miniature brief case and being briefly detained by authorities, was in Washington, D.C., to attend "Astronomy Night" at the White House at the invitation of the president.
The event marked the end of an international publicity tour that included a photo-op with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a.k.a. "The Butcher of Darfur," who was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2009-2010 for genocide and other war crimes.
The Washington Post reports that the Mohamed family decided to leave the United States "within the past 24 hours," after Ahmed was offered a scholarship at a state-sponsored academy in Qatar, a country known less for its association with scientific geniuses than it is for arresting reporters, bribing corrupt FIFA officials in order to host the 2022 World Cup, abusing the rights of migrant workers, and donating to the Clinton Foundation:
"After careful consideration of all the generous offers received, we would like to announce that we have accepted a kind offer from Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) for Ahmed to join the prestigious QF Young Innovators Program, which reflects the organization’s on-going dedication to empowering young people and fostering a culture of innovation and creativity," the family said in a news release Tuesday.
Anthony Bond, a close family friend and the founder of the Irving, Texas, chapter of the NAACP said the family made the decision to leave the U.S. within the past 24 hours. They have spent those hours in Washington, where Ahmed has been on a mini-press tour in anticipation of his visit to the White House...
After withdrawing from school in Texas, the boy’s family embraced the opportunities that came from his brush with the law. He visited the Google Science Fair, met with Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir, posed with the queen of Jordan at a United Nations Summit, appeared on the "Doctor Oz" show and last night, made it to the White House.
It is unclear if the conversation with Obama is what prompted the Mohamed family to flee.