The president of the United Arab Emirates dies at the age of 73

This Friday, at the age of 73, the emir of Abu Dhabi and president of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. At the moment, the circumstances of his death are unknown, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

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“The Ministry of Presidential Affairs presents its condolences to the people of the United Arab Emirates and Muslim Arab nations (…) for the leader of the nation H.H. Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the State, who went to God on Friday may 13th”the department said in a statement released by WAM.

The note, which did not provide details of Khalifa’s death, said the Ministry announced official mourning and the lowering of national flags for a period of 40 days, as is the tradition in some Arab countries.

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He also announced the suspension of work in all public institutions and private companies starting this Friday.

The funeral prayer will take place this Friday, after the Muslim prayer that is practiced after sunset, in the mosque Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi, while the other temples in the country will also perform a special liturgy, according to WAM.

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Born in 1948, Khalifa assumed the presidency of the country after the death in 2004 of his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, a man who unified the seven emirates that make up the UAE and managed to coordinate its conversion from a desert country into a rich State oil, stable and with the most dynamic economy in the area.

Khalifa followed in his father’s footsteps and led the implementation of numerous modernization and development projects in the country, in addition to investments of billions of dollars, until in 2014 he suffered a stroke for which he underwent urgent surgery in a hospital in your country.

Although the authorities assured at the time that his status was “stable”, the sheikh disappeared from the political and international scene, and hardly appeared publicly, giving that job to his half-brother, Mohamed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi since 2004, who in recent years has become the strongest figure in the UAE and de facto leader of the country.

Source: Elcomercio

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