UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed is dead

Lhe President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, has died, authorities announced on Friday (May 13th). The government has declared official mourning and the flags are lowered for 40 days. The late head of state, who had accompanied his country’s meteoric rise on the international scene over the past two decades, had been rare in public since a stroke in January 2014.

Joe Biden hailed “the memory” of the President of the United Arab Emirates, “a true partner and friend of the United States”. “We will honor his memory by continuing to strengthen the ancient relationship between the governments and peoples of the United States and the United Arab Emirates,” the US president said in a statement, offering his “condolences”.

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The powers already ceded to his son

Born in January 1948, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan succeeded his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, in 2004, president and founding father of the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy Gulf state comprising seven emirates, including Dubai and the capital Abu Dhabi.

But since the stroke of 2014, his famous half-brother, Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi nicknamed “MBZ”, leads the country’s affairs and remains considered the de facto ruler of the oil monarchy in the world. growing influence. After the establishment in 1971 of the federation, which includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sheikh Khalifa was appointed deputy prime minister of the new state. He then chaired the Superior Petroleum Council, a body endowed with broad powers in the energy field.