PM Shehbaz visiting UAE to offer condolence on death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday will leave for Dubai to offer condolences on the demise of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Tomorrow, the Premier will offer his condolence to the Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa along with all ranks of the Pakistan Army, Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday expressed deep grief over the demise of President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

In his condolence message on Twitter, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said with the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Ak-Nahyan, the UAE had lost a visionary leader and Pakistan lost a great friend.
“We send our heartfelt condolences & sympathies to the government & people of the UAE. May Allah rest his soul in peace,” the prime minister remarked.

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The United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan died aged 73 on Friday, state media said, after battling illness for several years.

The president of the oil-rich Gulf state, who was rarely seen in public, is likely to be replaced by his half-brother, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, who was already seen as the UAE’s de facto ruler.

“The Ministry of Presidential Affairs has mourned to the UAE people, Arab and Islamic nations and the world the death of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan,” the official WAM news agency tweeted.

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The ministry announced 40 days of mourning, with flags at half-mast from Friday and work suspended in the public and private sectors for the first three days.

Born in 1948, Sheikh Khalifa took over as the UAE’s second president in November 2004, succeeding his father as the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi, the richest of the federation’s seven emirates.

He has rarely been seen in public since 2014, when he had surgery following a stroke, although he has continued to issue rulings.

The cause of death was not immediately released.