Obituary: Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nuhayyan 1918 - 2004 'The master giver' Grief over the death of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nuhayyan is palpable across the UAE. Sheikh Zayed was 86, and is known to have suffered from a kidney disorder since 2001. Over the past two months he seldom appeared in public and in recent weeks his eldest son and heir apparent, Sheikh Khalifah Bin Zayed, had assumed his father's official duties. Even so, his death has left the nation in shock. Tens of thousands are driving around in the streets, going nowhere in particular, in a state of disbelief. The Presidential Office in Abu Dhabi released the news at 8pm on Tuesday. State-run radio and television services abandoned normal programming to broadcast Quranic recitals and biographical material about the deceased leader. The Presidential Office has ordered 40 days of mourning, during which flags will fly at half-mast, and government offices were given eight days off in an expression of official grief. Under the legal instruments creating the UAE, signed by the leaders of seven emirates in 1971, Sheikh Khalifah Bin Zayed will succeed his father as governor of Abu Dhabi. The next UAE president will be selected at a meeting of the UAE Higher Council, a body consisting of the seven governors of the emirates. Most commentators expect Sheikh Khalifah to be chosen. Abu Dhabi is the largest and richest UAE emirate. There has been widespread speculation about what will happen to the UAE following the death of its founder, with some voicing fears that the union would come undone should the more powerful emirates, such as Dubai, decide to go it alone. Leaders of the emirates, though, deny any plans for secession, and insist UAE unity is irreversible. Although the Emirates set their own economic agendas the country has managed a remarkable harmony under the guiding hand of Sheikh Zayed. No hidden agendas and no covert rivalries are thought to be in play in the prosperous Gulf state. The day before Sheikh Zayed's death the UAE's cabinet was reshuffled. A ministry for presidential affairs was created and several ministries merged. A new interior minister, Sheikh Sayf Bin Zayed Al-Nuhayyan, was appointed, while Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi (of Al-Sharjah), became the first woman minister ever in the country, holding the economy and planning portfolio. Sheikh Zayed was dubbed Zayed A-Khayr (master giver) by his people, in recognition of his effort to boost standards of living in his country. He had ruled Abu Dhabi since 6 August 1966, and two years after taking office called on rulers of neighbouring emirates to join him in a unified state. The first meeting to discuss the formation of the UAE took place in Al- Samhah, on the borders between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, on 19 February 1968. In December 1971 the rulers of the seven emirates met in Dubai, approved the interim constitution of the new state and elected Zayed as president. Since then the UAE has experienced what many see as phenomenal economic growth. Sheikh Zayed's successful career as UAE president is due in no small part to his belief in consultation and in leadership through good example. Under his rule the desert surrounding Abu Dhabi has been turned into agricultural land, through the expenditure of considerable effort, time and money. The late UAE leader at one point called on Saddam Hussein to abdicate power to spare his people the horrors of invasion. Sheikh Zayed was a voice of reason in another regional dispute -- Iran's continued occupation of three UAE islands, Tanb Al-Kubra, Tanb Al-Sughra and Abu Musa. Iran grabbed the three islands in November 1971, just before the UAE was created. The late UAE president initiated diplomatic negotiations with Iran which are still ongoing. Sheikh Zayed donated over 100 million dirhams ($33 million) to Palestinians injured in the Intifada and funded Zayed City, a housing project that aims to create over 3,000 housing units in Gaza. Since its creation the UAE has provided over 100 billion dirhams ($33 billion) in grants and soft loans to developing countries around the world. The Zayed Charity Foundation, formed in 1992, is the world's fifth ranking donor to UN refugee programmes. The foundation spent over 400 million dirhams ($133 million) up to 2002 on hundreds of relief projects covering health, education, and social care.
