His Highness Sheikh Zayed Passed Away

The President of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Shiekh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, has died, state television says. "The royal court announces to Arab and Islamic countries and the rest of the world the death of the leader of the nation Sheikh Zayed ... on Tuesday evening," said an announcement read out on Abu Dhabi television. Under the UAE constitution, Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, will act as president until the federal council which groups rulers of the seven emirates meets within 30 days to elect a new president.

The announcement, which did not immediately give more details, was reported by official media while Abu Dhabi television aired verses from the Koran, the Muslim holy book.Sheikh Zayed, who was genuinely loved by his people for using oil money to turn his desert country green, played a key part in creating the UAE out of the Trucial States on December 2, 1971, following Britain's pullout from the Gulf. The president, who died aged nearly 90, was also respected by Arab counterparts, having tirelessly counseled reconciliation, tolerance and unity in a region riven by political disputes and personal rivalries.His calls for conciliation extended across the Gulf to non-Arab Iran, with which his country has a territorial dispute. Sheikh Zayed advocated dialogue as the means to a solution of the row with Tehran over three strategic Gulf islands. The plight of Iraq's sanctions-stricken people moved him to take the lead among Arab rulers in calling for an end to the UN embargo imposed after Baghdad invaded Kuwait in August 1990.But early last year, he also called for Saddam Hussein to step down as Iraqi president in an attempt to avert the US-led invasion of Iraq.A steadfast champion of the Palestinian cause, Sheikh Zayed did not shy away from criticizing US policy in the Middle East, chiding Washington for its perceived lack of even-handedness in dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"I came here first of all to hear the views of Sheikh Zayed, a wise man, on the situation in the aftermath of the September 11" anti-US terror attacks, French President Jacques Chirac said during a visit to Abu Dhabi in November 2001.Underpinning the president's rule was a delicate balance between the seven emirates making up the federation. His deputy was Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashed al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, the federation's second most important emirate. Sheikh Zayed - who was born "around 1918" according to official documents - had his share of health problems over the past few years, undergoing neck surgery in 1996 and a kidney transplant four years later.In August 1966, he was proclaimed ruler of what became the wealthiest emirate of the federation.The Nahayan family agreed that he should succeed his brother Shakhbut, who bowed out after governing Abu Dhabi for 38 years during which the modern world was largely shut out. Abu Dhabi was a poor backwater living off pearling and rudimentary agriculture in scattered nearby oases.The collapse of the pearl market in the 1930s as a result of the world economic crisis and the advent of Japanese cultured pearls spelled disaster. The Trucial States did not even have schools. This meant that Sheikh Zayed's education was limited to the basic tenets of Islam at the hands of a local cleric.

Oil Boom

It began flowing in Abu Dhabi in 1959 and exports started four years later, bringing hitherto unthinkable riches which Sheikh Zayed used upon assuming office to launch large-scale development projects. Sheikh Zayed had been initiated to the rules of government in 1946, when Shakhbut entrusted him with the administration of the oasis of Al-Ain.In 1953, he accompanied his brother on visits to Britain and France and came back impressed by what he saw, notably schools and hospitals.The oil boom enjoyed by Abu Dhabi spread through the six other emirates after their rulers chose Sheikh Zayed as the first head of the UAE federation in 1971.
His first five-year mandate was systematically renewed since, and when he died, he left a country that is one of the world's richest. A keen falconer, Sheikh Zayed fathered 19 sons and several daughters from four wives.He was 86. Sheik Zayed, who has been absolute ruler of the United Arab Emirates for more than 30 years, had been ailing for several years and did not attend Arab summits. He had a kidney transplant in August 2000.His eldest son, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has been heir apparent since his father named him in 1969 crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the capital and richest of the seven emirates. Abu Dhabi TV interrupted regular broadcasting to break the news of Sheik Zayed's death, but no cause of death was provided. The announcement was followed by an Islamic cleric appearing on TV reading verses from the Quran. Sheik Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhbai since 1966, was the founding leader of the United Arab Emirates, which he had ruled since the seven emirates forged a union and took independence from Britain in 1971. He has watched over the Emirates' development from a cluster of desert provinces ruled by Arab tribes to a world-leading financial and banking center.

The King Who loved his People, Animals and the Trees of Arabia

Zayed was born in 1918 and named after his grandfather, Shaikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, who has the longest reign in the emirate's history, ruling Abu Dhabi from 1855 to 1909. His grandfather is also known as "Zayid The Great" and "Zayed the First", and had played a large role in forging unity between the tribes of Oman and leading the Bani Yas tribe. Zayed's father, Shiekh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruled Abu Dhabi between 1922 and 1926.

After his father died in 1927, Zayed moved to the oasis of Al Ain, approximately 160 kilometers east of Abu Dhabi, where he spent the rest of his youth. There he underwent religious education, and learned the Quran. At that time, the seven emirates, were under British influence since 1820. Abu Dhabi was poor and undeveloped and its economy was based upon fishing and pearl diving along the coast. At this point, the first oil firms came to carry out geological surveys, and Zayed was appointed to guide them around the desert. Shiekh Zayed was assigned to govern Al Ain in 1946 and later in 1953. When oil was discovered in Abu Dhabi in 1958, economic matters began to improve. On August 9, 1966, Sheikh Zayed was given control of Abu Dhabi by his elder brother. After assuming rulership, Sheikh Zayed introduced a formal government structure, with departments developed to handle specific tasks. Priority was given to build basic housing facilities, schools, health services, and the construction of an airport, a sea port, roads, and a bridge to link Abu Dhabi to the mainland.

When Britain announced in January 1968 that it would withdraw its military presence in the Gulf, Sheikh Zayed was the first statesman to call for a union. Zayed realized that for Abu Dhabi to prosper, it would need to co-operate with its tribal neighbors. Thus, he met with the then-ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoom. The two held meetings on the 19th of February 1968 at Samih and discussed border disputes. This followed by the signing of an agreement on the 27th of February 1968, which would form a federation of nine emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Bahrain, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, Qatar and Umm al-Quwain). Later, Bahrain and Qatar wanted full independence and Ras Al Khaimah also declined to join.

On the 2nd of December 1971, a federation of six emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain) formed the United Arab Emirates [UAE]. Sheikh Zayed was elected president and Sheikh Rashid was elected vice-president. Shortly afterwards, Ras Al Khaimah decided to join the federation, which officially took place on the 11th of February of 1972.

Sheikh Zayed has been re-elected as president at five-year intervals by the Supreme Council Members, who are ruling members of each of the seven emirates. Sheikh Rashid was re-elected vice-president until he died in 1990, at which time his son, Sheikh Maktoum, took his father's place. Sheikh Zayed also played a major role in the formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which officially started in Abu Dhabi in 1981. In recent years, Sheikh Zayed's health has deteriorated and he used to travel to the United States for medical check ups. He travelled to the United States in 1996 for a spinal surgery and then again in August 2000 for a kidney transplant.