DALLAS –The Texas boy arrested for bringing to school a homemade clock
that was mistaken for a bomb is moving to Qatar, his family said on Tuesday, a
few hours after he was at the White House for an astronomy night hosted by
President Barack Obama.

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, a bespectacled ninth-grader who became an
Internet sensation for an arrest that supporters said was influenced by bias
against his Muslim religion, has accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation to
study at its Young Innovators Program.

“This means, that we, as a family, will relocate to Qatar
where Ahmed will receive a full scholarship for secondary and undergraduate
education,” his family said in a statement.

The teenager, who dabbles in robotics and had attended a
Dallas-area high school, has basked in celebrity status since his arrest in
September. The family has been traveling the globe to meet dignitaries.

Sudanese state radio reported that his father took him to meet
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The Sudanese leader is accused by the
International Criminal Court of masterminding genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes during Sudan’s Darfur conflict.

After Mohamed was seen in a NASA T-shirt in handcuffs, the
Twitter hashtag #IStandWithAhmed trended globally and was cited in praise from
Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark
Zuckerberg, who said: “Having the skill and ambition to build something cool
should lead to applause, not arrest.”

No charges were filed and police in the Dallas suburb of Irving
said in September they were reviewing their actions in the case..

At the White House on Monday night, Obama briefly met Mohamed as
he shook hands with students at the event, giving the student a hug.

At
the time of the arrest, Obama’s Twitter feed had a message of support for
Mohammed, which read: “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.”