Sheikh khalifa son

President of the United Arab Emirates from to

Not to be confused with Khalifa bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.

In this Arabic name, the surname is Al Nahyan.

SheikhKhalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic:  خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎; 7 September – 13 May )^[3][4] was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from November until his death in May ^[5]

Khalifa was the eldest son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates.

As crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa carried out some aspects of the presidency in a de facto capacity from the late s when his father experienced health problems.^[6] He succeeded his father as the ruler of Abu Dhabi on 2 November , and the Federal Supreme Council elected him as president of the UAE the following day.

As ruler of Abu Dhabi, he attracted cultural and academic centres to Abu Dhabi, helping establish the Louvre Abu Dhabi, New York University Abu Dhabi and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. He also established Etihad Airways.^[7]

During Khalifa's presidency, the United Arab Emirates became a regional economic powerhouse and its non-oil economy grew.^[8][7] Khalifa was viewed as a pro-Western modernizer whose low-key approach helped steer the country through a tense era in regional politics and forged closer ties with the United States and Israel.^[9] As president during the financial crisis of –, he directed the payment of billions of dollars in emergency bailout funds into Dubai.^[7] On 4 January , the world's tallest man-made structure, originally known as Burj Dubai, was renamed the Burj Khalifa in his honor.^[10]

In January , Khalifa had a stroke and was in stable condition after surgery.^[11] He then assumed a lower profile in state affairs but retained ceremonial presidential powers.

His half-brother Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan carried out public affairs of the state and day-to-day decision-making of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.^[12] In , Forbes named Khalifa in its list of the world's most powerful people.^[13] Following his death on 13 May , Khalifa was succeeded by his brother Mohamed.

Early life and education

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed was born on 7 September at Qasr Al-Muwaiji, Al Ain, in Abu Dhabi (then part of the Trucial States), the eldest son of Hassa bint Mohammed Al Nahyan and Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.^[14][15] He spent most of his childhood in Al Ain.

Sheikh Khalifa's early education began with the traditional learning of the tenets of Islam by Sheikh Thani Bin Ahmed, a mutawa (religious teacher). Due to the lack of formal schools in Al Ain during the early 's, Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Khalifa's father, arranged for a qualified tutor from Muscat, Mohammed Bin Rashid Altamimi who then ran a small school in Muwaiji established by Sheikh Zayed around ^[16] It was one of Sheikh Zayed’s priorities that Sheikh Khalifa and his siblings receive a comprehensive education.^[17] Sheikh Khalifa, along with other members of the royal family, continued their early education in the Al Nahyaneia Model School in the academic year , providing encouragement for education in the area.

Later, Sheikh Khalifa pursued further academic studies in another school named Alfalah.^[16] He later graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.^[18]

In addition to his formal education, Sheikh Khalifa regularly attended his father Sheikh Zayed's Majlis, where he gained experience in political affairs and governance, preparing him for future leadership.

Alongside that, he developed a strong interest in traditional sports such as horse and camel racing.^[16]

Political career

As ruler's representative and crown prince: –

When his father, Zayed, became emir of Abu Dhabi in , Khalifa was appointed the ruler's representative in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi and head of the Courts Department in Al Ain.^[19] Zayed was the ruler's representative in the Eastern Region before he became the emir of Abu Dhabi.

A few months later the position was handed to Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan.^[20]

On 1 February , Khalifa was nominated the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and on the next day he was appointed head of the Abu Dhabi Department of Defense. In that post, he oversaw the build up of the Abu Dhabi Defense Force, which after became the core of the UAE Armed Forces.^[6]

As deputy prime minister: –

Following the establishment of the UAE in , Khalifa assumed several positions in Abu Dhabi as head of the Abu Dhabi Cabinet.

After the reconstruction of the Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi Cabinet was replaced by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and Khalifa became the 2nd deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (23 December ) and the chairman of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi (20 January ).^[21][22]

In March , His Highness took on the task of founding with his father and leading the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

This organization strategically oversees the emirate’s financial investments with ensuring a stable income for future generations.^[23]

In May , he became deputy commander of the UAE Armed Forces, under the president.^[24] He also became the head of the Supreme Petroleum Council in the late s.

The post granted him wide powers in energy matters.^[25] He was also the chairman of the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency.^[26]

In , he established the Abu Dhabi Department of Social Services and Commercial Building as well as the Khalifa Housing Fund to help and support constructions of residential and commercial buildings.

This initiative sparked construction around Abu Dhabi.^[27]

He succeeded to the post of emir of Abu Dhabi and was elected president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 3 November , replacing his father Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had died the day before. He had been acting president since his father became ill prior to his death.^[6]

On 1 December , Khalifa announced that half of the members of the Federal National Council (FNC), an assembly that advises the president, would be indirectly elected.

Half of the council's members were still appointed by the leaders of the emirates.^[28]

In , Khalifa was re-elected as president for a second five-year term.^[29] He was subsequently re-elected in and

In , Khalifa was described in a WikiLeaks cable signed by then U.S. ambassadorRichard G.

Olson as a "distant and uncharismatic personage."^[30] The cable said that Khalifa had risked his reputation and the UAE's future since , when he described the United States as willing to shed blood to maintain international order and stability in the Gulf.

In March , Khalifa sent the United Arab Emirates Air Force to support the military intervention in Libya against Muammar Gaddafi, alongside forces from NATO, Qatar, Sweden and Jordan.^[31][32]

Khalifa pledged the full support of the UAE to the Bahrain in the face of pro-democracy uprising in ^[33]

Later that year Khalifa was ranked as the world's fourth-wealthiest monarch, with a fortune estimated to be worth $15 billion.^[34] In , he commissioned Azzam, the longest motor yacht ever built and measuring &#;ft (&#;m) long, with a cost between $– million.^[35][36]

In January , Khalifa had a stroke and was reported to have been in a stable condition after undergoing an operation.

He was rarely seen in public after, and, with his health deteriorating, his brother, the crown prince, took over as the de facto ruler.^[11]

During his presidency in February , the UAE normalised relations with Israel and signed partnership agreements on tourism and healthcare.^[37]

Personal life

Khalifa was the eldest son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Hassa bint Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.^[38] This made him his father's representative, being the eldest son in the family.^[39]

He was married to Shamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouei, on October 18, Sheikha Shamsa Bint Suhail was from a famous Al Khamis family of the Al Shikr branch of the Mazaria tribe in Liwa.^[16] Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikha Shamsa had eight children:

• Sultan bin Khalifa al Nahyan is married to Sheikha bint Saif al Nahyan.

They have 3 sons and 3 daughters together.

• Mohammed bin Khalifa al Nahyan is married to a daughter of late Sultan bin Zayed al Nahyan and has 3 sons.

• Sheikha bint Khalifa al Nahyan is married to Hamad bin Tahnoun al Nahyan and have 3 sons and 3 daughters.

• Osha bint Khalifa al Nahyan is married to Sultan bin Hamdan al Nahyan and have 6 sons and 1 daughter.

• Mouza bint Khalifa al Nahyan is married to Khalifa bin Saif al Nahyan and have 3 sons and 5 daughters.

• Salama bint Khalifa al Nahyan is married to Mansour bin Tahnoun al Nahyan and have 3 sons and 1 daughter.

• Latifa bint Khalifa al Nahyan married Diyab bin Tahnoun al Nahyan in They have 1 son and 2 daughters together.

• Shamma bint Khalifa al Nahyan is married to Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed al Nahyan and have 3 sons.^[40][41]

Investments and foreign aid

Seychellois government records show that, between and , Sheikh Khalifa had spent $2 million buying up more than 66 acres of land on the Seychelles' main island of Mahé, where what was to be his palace was being built.^[42] The Seychelles' government has received large aid packages from the UAE, most notably a $ million injection that was used in social service and military aid, which funded patrol boats for the Seychelles' anti-piracy efforts.

In , the UAE came to the indebted Seychelles government's aid, with a $30 million injection.^[42]

Sheikh Khalifa paid $, for the acre site of his palace in , according to the sales document. A Seychelles planning authority initially rejected the palace's building plans, a decision overturned by President James Michel's cabinet.^[42] A month after the start of construction of the palace, the national utility company warned that the site's plans posed threats to the water supply.

Joel Morgan, the Seychelles' minister of the environment, said the government did not tender the land because it wanted it to go to Sheikh Khalifa. Morgan said "the letter of the law" might not have been followed in the land sale.^[42]

In February , the sewage system set up by Ascon, the company building the palace, for the site's construction workers overflowed, sending rivers of waste through the region, which is home to more than residents.^[42] Local government agencies and officials from Khalifa's office responded quickly to the problem, sending in technical experts and engineers.

Government officials concluded that Ascon ignored health and building codes for their workers, and fined the company $81, Ascon blamed the incident on "unpredicted weather conditions".^[42] Khalifa's presidential office offered to pay $15 million to replace the water-piping system for the mountainside, and Seychelles' government representatives and residents say Ascon has offered to pay roughly $8, to each of the households that were affected by the pollution.^[42]

Through the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, the UAE supported the Yemeni people in August with 3, tonnes of food and aid supplies.^[43] By 19 August , the foundation had sent Yemen 7, tonnes of food, medicine, and medical supplies.^[43][44][45]

In April , Sheikh Khalifa was named in the Panama Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists;^[46] he reportedly owned luxury properties in London worth more than $&#;billion via shell companies that Mossack Fonseca set up and administers for him in the British Virgin Islands.^[47]

Death

Sheikh Khalifa died on 13 May , at the age of ^[48][49] He was buried at Al Bateen Cemetery in Abu Dhabi.^[50] His half-brother Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan succeeded him as ruler of Abu Dhabi upon his death,^[51] and was elected president of the UAE the next day.^[52]

The Ministry of Presidential Affairs announced a day national mourning with flags at half-mast along with a three-day suspension of work in private firms and the official entities at the federal and local levels of institution.^[53] State mourning was also announced in many other Arab League nations.

Bahrain,^[54] Lebanon,^[55] Oman,^[56] Mauritania,^[57] Qatar,^[58] Egypt,^[59] Morocco,^[60] Maldives^[61] declared official mourning and flags at half-mast for three days. In Jordan, mourning was declared for 40 days^[62] while flags flew at half-mast in Kuwait.^[63] Saudi Arabia declared three days of mourning with all recreational, sporting events and festivities postponed.^[64] Pakistan announced a three-day mourning and flags were raised at half-mast.^[65][66] Brazil declared three days of mourning,^[67][68] Algeria declared two days of mourning with flags to be flown at half-mast.^[69][70] Palestine declared a day of mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.^[71] India also declared a period of national mourning with flags at half-staff for one day starting from 14 May ^[72][73] Bangladesh declared one day of state mourning on Saturday.^[74] Cuba declared one day of mourning on 17 May.^[75][76]

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mosque

In honor of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's legacy, a mosque was built in Al Ain and named after him.

The mosque opened in April and is one of the largest and most remarkable mosques in Al Ain to this day. Due to that fact, the mosque is also called "Al Ain Mosque". It is a representation of symbolic Islamic architecture with the designs that cover the mosque's walls and dome. The mosque is vast in space and can hold about 20, people. The mosque is centered by a dome that is 86 meters wide.

The dome is surrounded by four minarets which are 60 meters tall each. This beautifully built mosque is not just a destination for worshipers, but an architectural sight that brings together history and culture. ^[77]

Honours

National

Foreign

Ancestry

See also

References