Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates since 2004, died Friday at the age of 73 years. He was sick for years even though the cause of death was not immediately released. “The Ministry of Presidential Affairs limits the people of the UAE, Arab and Islamic countries, and the world for the death of His Majesty Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE,” AFP quoted the WAM news agency.
The ministry also announced the 40 -day mourning period, Khaleej Times reported. The flag will be hoisted on half the pillars and other ministries and departments will suspend work starting Friday.
Oil -rich country leaders, rarely seen in public – especially after operations after stroke in 2014 – are likely to be replaced by his brother, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed has been seen as the ruler of De Facto UAE.
The Emirates has lost their virtuous sons and leaders from the ’empowerment stage’ and the guardian of his blessed journey,” Bin Zayed Tweeted in Arabic.
Attitudes, achievements, wisdom, generosity, and initiative are in every corner of the country … Khalifa bin Zayed, my brother … may God forgive you and give you access to heaven.”
The death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed has been overlooked worldwide, with Chief Minister Kerala Piniaryai Vijayan, Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Congress Member of Congress Rahul Gandhi among those who paid UPETI from India.
Congress units and members of Shashi Tharoor Kerala Parliament also tweeted.
New Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sherif has also conveyed the same.
Sheikh Khalifa took over as president (second UAE) in November 2004, replacing his father as the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi, who was the richest of the seven Emirates of the Federation.
A decade later he suffered a stroke and underwent surgery, after that he mostly disappeared from public life.
However, he issued a decision from time to time.
Although he did not have formal higher education, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahya led the UAE when Dubai turned into a center for tourism and trade, and Abu Dhabi pumps oil as the main OPEC player.
He came to save Dubai when hit by a global financial crisis in 2009, expanding the multi-billion dollar lifeline to a debt-laden Emirates.
The second largest economy in the Arab world behind Saudi Arabia has also begun to have increased political influence, filling space caused by traditional forces such as Egypt, Iraq and Syria.
The country with a population of 10 million also joined a military campaign in Libya and Yemen and violated the ranking of the many Arab worlds to build relations with Israel in 2020.