ABU
DHABI, November 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Arab and
Muslim leaders converged on Abu Dhabi Wednesday, November 3, and
joined the people of the United Arab Emirates in burying Sheikh Zayed
bin Sultan Al-Nahayan, president and founding father of the oil-rich
Gulf state.
Observers
and political analysts in the rich Gulf state, meanwhile, say Sheikh
Zayed’s eldest son, Sheikh Khalifah, will smoothly succeed his
father.
Sheikh
Zayed, who was hailed as the creator of the desert nation's vast
wealth and a unifying force in the region, died Tuesday.
Algerian
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika landed in the capital, catching up with
other heads of state from across the Arab and Muslim world to pay
their respects to the elder statesman, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Streets
in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi were almost deserted as verses from the
Noble Qur’an blared from mosque loudspeakers and dozens of people,
including some foreigners, milled around the Sultan bin Zayed mosque
where Sheikh Zayed's body was brought later in the day.
The
mosque witnessed the “prayer for the dead”, following the
afternoon prayer and Arab and Muslim Presidents and leaders were in
the lead rows of worshippers.
Almost
all Arab leaders, in addition to newly elected Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, Pakistan’s Prevez Musharraf and other Muslim and Arab
officials attended the funeral.
Among
the most noticeable absences from the funeral was Egypt’s Hosni
Mubarak, who was on an official visit to Germany and delegated his
defense minister to represent him.
Karzai,
however, was absent from the occasion of officially declaring him
president of Afghanistan to attend the Arab leader’s funeral.
The
“prayer for the dead” ritual was held in mosques throughout the
country simultaneously after afternoon prayers.
Although
Sheikh Zayed had been ill for some time, his death has cast a somber
mood on the Gulf federation of seven emirates which he had shepherded
to prosperity since its creation in 1971.
Newspapers
were filled with tributes and bore huge banners mourning the man they
hailed as the architect of the nation's unity and builder of its
prosperity, while television stations broadcast similar eulogies and
Qur’an verses.
Government
departments and private establishments were closed as the country, a
member of OPEC, began an official 40-day period of mourning during
which flags will fly at half-mast. The public sector will close down
for eight days and the private sector for three.
Deputy
President Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, who is also ruler of
Dubai, took the reins for the transition while Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
Sheikh Khalifah, eldest son of the deceased president, succeeded his
father as ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Sheikh
Maktoum will exercise the prerogatives of the head of state until the
Supreme Federal Council grouping the rulers of the seven emirates
making up the UAE -- Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras
Al-Khaimah and Um Al-Qaiwain -- selects Sheikh Zayed's successor.
The
successor must be chosen within a month for a five-year mandate. As
ruler of the UAE's largest and wealthiest member, Sheikh Khalifah bin
Zayed is expected to get the top post.
Observers
expect Sheikh Khalifah to follow the same calm and reasonable diplomacy
his late father has adopted all the time.
Genuinely
Loved
 |
|
Shekh
Khalifah is expected to follow his late father’s line
|
Sheikh
Zayed, may Allah rest his soul in peace, has always enjoyed wide
support among his people and among all other Arab peoples and
countries. His death caused a thick atmosphere of gloom over the Gulf
state.
“I
couldn't describe my feelings. He has been the father and leader of
the people... In the past 30 years, miracles were performed in
building this country,” Abu Hajer, a 31-year-old Abu Dhabi native,
told AFP.
Unlike
many Arab rulers, Zayed was genuinely loved by his people for using
oil money to turn the desert federation green after playing a key part
in its creation on December 2, 1971 following Britain's pullout from
the Gulf.
That
was five years after he had been proclaimed ruler of Abu Dhabi, which
became the wealthiest emirate of the federation and accounts for some
90 percent of the UAE's oil production, currently about 2.5 million
barrels a day.
On
the deserted streets of Abu Dhabi, expatriates -- who make up more
than 80 percent of the UAE's population of around 3.75 million --
joined in voicing sorrow.
“Sheikh
Zayed allowed different nationalities to live in harmony by his great
understanding of different faiths. We just want this to continue,”
said a tearful British resident.
Official
media reported that while mosques filled up after news of Zayed's
death, some churches were also planning special services for the late
leader.
Sheikh
Zayed “stood both at home and abroad as a symbol of benevolent and
wise leadership characterized by generosity, tolerance and avid
pursuit of development and modernization,” US Secretary of State
Colin Powell said.
Sheikh
Zayed was in his late 80s, may be 90 years old, and had been sick and
ailing for some time.
Born
“around 1918” according to official documents, the UAE leader had
his share of health problems over the past few years, undergoing neck
surgery in 1996 and a kidney transplant four years later.
Starting
in the late 1960s, the oil boom transformed Abu Dhabi into a
cosmopolitan city, and prompted politically ambitious Nahyan family
members to settle in the capital, where many of them obtained
positions in the expanding emirate and federal bureaucracies.
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
federation in 1971.
His
first five-year mandate had been systematically renewed ever since.
