Unifier of emirates dies at 86

By TAREK AL-ISSAWI
The Associated Press

AP, 2001 Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is shown in this file photo.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The president of the United Arab Emirates, who oversaw the transformation of a cluster of tiny desert Persian Gulf sheikdoms into a leading oil and business hub with skyscrapers and sprawling shopping malls, has died. He was 86.

Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, one of the richest rulers in the world according to Forbes magazine, forged close ties with the United States and the West during his rule of the country, which is the world's ninth-largest oil producer.

Sheik Zayed was expected to be succeeded by his eldest son, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The leaders of the seven emirates that make up the country will appoint the new president within 30 days.

In the meantime, the prime minister — Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a close relative of Sheik Zayed — will serve as acting president. During the president's illness, Sheik Maktoum has been the public face of the emirates.

Abu Dhabi TV interrupted regular broadcasting to break the news of the death of the man who led the United Arab Emirates since its independence from Britain in 1971. He had been ailing for several years, was largely out of public eye and did not attend Arab summits. He had a kidney transplant in August 2000.

The announcement was followed by an Islamic cleric appearing on TV reading verses from the Quran.

The official Emirates news agency, WAM, released its own announcement, lauding him as "the leader of the nation and the builder of its civilization."

Based on Islamic tradition, Sheik Zayed will be buried quickly, most likely today.

Sheik Zayed led the unification of the seven tiny emirates on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula — once a backwater relegated to fishing from traditional dhow boats and diving for pearls in the Gulf waters.

United Arab Emirates at a glance One of the world's richest countries is composed of seven emirates, each with its own ruler. It has a combined population of more than 3.4 million, about 75 percent of whom are expatriate laborers and executives. Abu Dhabi: The largest and richest of the seven emirates, Abu Dhabi has been transformed since oil production was introduced in the 1960s from a collection of huts clustered around the ruler's fort into a modern metropolis of more than 1 million. Dubai: The second-richest emirate, it grew from a small trading port in the 1950s to the region's trading hub. With oil reserves due to run out by 2010, Dubai is putting an infrastructure into place to earn the major portion of its revenue from trade. Dubai hosts world-class tennis, golf, rugby and horse-racing events, and the ruling Al Maktoum family owns some of the world's best race horses. Sharjah: The third-largest emirate, with a population of about half a million, is a manufacturing center and the cultural capital of the UAE. Its ruler, Sheik Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, holds a doctorate from Exeter University in England. It was home to the great Qawasim seafaring tribe, before it was destroyed by the British in 1819. Ajman: The smallest emirate in territory, with a population of about 160,000, it has been ruled by Sheik Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi since the death of his father in 1981. Ajman's pearling industry was its mainstay before it was virtually destroyed in the 1930s by competition from Japan. Without oil and gas, Ajman has remained largely a fishing village. Umm Al-Quwain: Its name means "Mother of the Powers," a reference to the long seafaring history of this largely fishing village of some 40,000 residents. Ras Al-Khaimah: It was called Julfar when it was one of the ports of call for Marco Polo on his journey east in 1272. Today, its population of less than 40,000 largely survives on the generosity of the emirate's richer neighbors. In 1997 it signed an $18 million oil-drilling contract. No oil has yet been found. Sheik Saqr bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, who has ruled since 1948, is the world's longest-serving ruler. Fujairah: With a population of 88,000, Fujairah is home to several small industries and is a farming and fishing center. Vegetables and flowers are grown in huge environmentally controlled greenhouses. Bullfighting is Fujairah's national sport, but unlike in Spain, it is bloodless. Fujairah has an international airport, a free-trade zone and an oil refinery. It has been ruled for more than a century by the Al Sharqi family.

He became the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate, in 1966, four years after the emirate first began exporting the oil it had just discovered off its shores. At the time, Abu Dhabi city was a collection of huts clustered around the ruler's fort.

Today, the country — with a population of around 850,000 Emiratis and 2.6 million foreign expatriates and workers — is a leading member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the world's ninth-leading producer and fifth-largest exporter.

Billions of oil dollars were invested to make Abu Dhabi an oasis of high-rises, parks, fountains, manicured flower beds, restaurants and a wildlife island. The country has also sought to diversify the economy, becoming a center for banking and finance. Dubai, the second-largest emirate, now gets most of its revenues from trade.

After the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the Emirates were among several Arab countries pressured by Washington, D.C., to reform their financial sectors, which had been linked to the funneling of funds to international terrorist groups like al-Qaida.

The Al Nahran family held more than three-quarters of the stock in the bank BCCI, which in the early 1990s was at the center of one of the world's biggest bank frauds. Severe losses in securities trading and phony loans and insider stock trades led to the collapse of the bank, which had offices in 69 nations. Twelve top executives from the bank were convicted and forced to pay some $9.13 billion in restitution to the Abu Dhabi government.

While the Emirates' wealth grew, Sheik Zayed was known for seeking to maintain the traditions of his Bedouin roots and the personal rule of a tribal sheik.

He would hold a daily majlis, or open court, to let citizens air their concerns. He would try to attend weddings of ordinary citizens whenever invited and stroll the tree-lined streets accompanied only by two bodyguards.

He was a passionate falconer, with about 500 falcons trained for hunting and, before his health began to fail, would spend weeks on hunts in Pakistan and Morocco.

Sheik Zayed was married many times, though he adhered to Islamic law limiting a man to four wives at any one time. He had more than 21 sons; the number of daughters wasn't released.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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