UAE President Khalifa dies at 73

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates’ long-ailing ruler and president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, died Friday, the federal government introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73.

Khalifa oversaw a lot of the nation’s financial development and his identify was immortalized on the world’s tallest constructing, the Burj Khalifa, after bailing out Dubai throughout its monetary disaster over a decade in the past.

Nevertheless, after struggling a stroke and present process emergency surgical procedure in 2014, a decade after changing into president, he ceased having any involvement within the day-to-day affairs of ruling the nation.

The final a number of years of his life noticed his half brother, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, rise to change into the de facto ruler and decision-maker of main overseas coverage choices.

The UAE introduced a 40-day interval of mourning and a three-day suspension of labor throughout the federal government and personal sector, together with flags to be flown at half-staff.

There was no quick announcement on a successor.

Messages of condolences additionally poured in from across the area and the world.

“The UAE has misplaced a loyal son, and the chief of its blessed empowerment journey,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed wrote on Twitter after his brother’s demise was formally introduced on state media. “Khalifa bin Zayed, my brother, supporter and mentor, might Allah Almighty grant you everlasting peace.”

In a press release, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described Khalifa “as a real buddy of america,” including that the U.S. stays dedicated to its steadfast friendship and cooperation with the UAE. Vice President Kamala Harris additionally expressed her condolences.

Khalifa was born in 1948 in Al Ain, close to the border of Oman. He was the eldest son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who’s revered by Emiratis because the nation’s founding father. He was skilled at Sandhurst — the royal navy academy in England.

In 1969, Khalifa was named as Abu Dhabi prime minister and chairman of the emirate’s Division of Protection, which later grew to become the core of the UAE’s armed forces.

Khalifa helped enhance the UAE’s regional profile by bulking up its navy with hefty purchases from U.S. weapons producers.

He set warplanes to the NATO-led mission in opposition to Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya in 2011. In 2014, the Emirates grew to become one of the vital distinguished Arab members in U.S.-led airstrikes in opposition to the militant Islamic State group in Syria.

Below Khalifa’s presidency, the UAE joined Saudi Arabia in sending forces to Bahrain to quell an rebellion there by the nation’s majority Shiite inhabitants demanding higher rights from the island-nation’s Sunni management.

He more and more used Abu Dhabi’s oil wealth to draw cultural and educational facilities, equivalent to a department of the Louvre Museum and satellite tv for pc campuses of New York College and the Sorbonne. He additionally presided over efforts to maneuver the OPEC nation past its reliance on petrodollars with investments in renewable vitality analysis.

He has been credited with overseeing the creation and development of the Abu Dhabi Funding Authority, now one of many world’s largest sovereign wealth funds with near $700 billion in belongings, in accordance with estimates by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

Khalifa was believed to be among the many world’s richest rulers with a private fortune estimated by Forbes journal in 2008 at $19 billion. He constructed a palace within the Seychelles, an island-chain nation within the Indian Ocean, and confronted complaints there about inflicting water air pollution from the development website.

His private life was not a lot within the public eye. He was passionate in regards to the conventional sport of falconry and was mentioned to get pleasure from fishing.

Although he had been out of public sight since his stroke, Khalifa’s picture graces each resort foyer and main authorities workplace throughout the nation. Now and again, Emirati state media revealed uncommon pictures and movies of Khalifa.

He’s identified to have had eight youngsters — two sons and 6 daughters — along with his first spouse, Sheikha Shamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouei. He’s additionally survived by a number of grandchildren.

    FILE – President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrives at Clarence Home in central London, to satisfy the Prince of Wales on the second day of his State Go to to the UK, Wednesday Might 1, 2013. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/ John Stillwell, pool, File)
  

    FILE – On this picture made obtainable by Emirates Information Company, WAM, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, 2nd proper, walks with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz throughout the thirty first Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC summit in Abu Dhabi, Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/WAM-HO, File)
  

    FILE – On this photograph made obtainable by Emirates Information Company, WAM, Monday March 14, 2011, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, left, meets UAE president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, 2nd proper, and UAE Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday March 13, 2011. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/WAM-HO, File)
  

    FILE – The Prince of Wales with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan throughout his go to to Clarence Home in central London on the second day of his State Go to to the UK Wednesday Might 1, 2013. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/John Stillwell, Pool, File)
  

    Folks move by the UAE nationwide flag flies at half-staff after the announcement of the Emirates president’s demise, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Might 13, 2022. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/Kamran Jebreili)
  

    UAE nationwide flag flies at half-staff after the announcement of the Emirates president’s demise, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Might 13, 2022. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/Kamran Jebreili)
  

    FILE – This photograph by Emirates Information Company, WAM, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, proper, is greeted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, middle, as Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, the ruler of Ajman, left, seems to be on at Al Bateen Palace in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, On this Wednesday, Might 8, 2019. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (Rashed al-Mansoori/Ministry of Presidential Affairs by way of AP, File)
  

    FILE – UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan walks with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, unseen, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Feb. 5, 2007, to debate bilateral relations. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/WAM, File)
  

    FILE – President of the United Arab Emirates Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan leaves Downing Road after a gathering with Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, in London, Wednesday, Might 1, 2013. Sheikh Khalifa died Friday, Might 13, 2022, the federal government’s state-run information company introduced in a quick assertion. He was 73. (AP Picture/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
  

 Gallery: UAE’s Sheikh Khalifa, 1948-2022