On Friday, the United Arab Emirates announced the death of the country’s president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
According to the country’s official news agency, in a statement, the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs mourned for “the people of the UAE, the Arab and Islamic nation, and the whole world, the leader of the nation His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.”
Sheikh Khalifa, who was born in 1948, was chosen in 2004 to succeed his long-serving father Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan.
Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan ascended the throne in 1971.
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, seen as the de facto ruler, has been the country’s key decision-maker on major foreign policy decisions since Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke in 2014, resulting in him being rarely seen in public.
