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 the2008 financial crisis, he directed the payment of billions of dollars in emergency bailout funds intoDubai.[7] On 4 January 2010, the world's tallest man-made structure, originally known as Burj Dubai, was renamed theBurj Khalifa in his honor.[10]
In January 2014, Khalifa had astroke and was in stable condition after surgery.[11] He then assumed a lower profile in state affairs but retained ceremonial presidential powers. His half-brotherMohamed 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 2018,Forbes named Khalifa inits list of the world's most powerful people.[13] Following his death on 13 May 2022, Khalifa was succeeded by his brother Mohamed.
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 1950s, 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 1956.[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 theAl Nahyaneia Model School in the academic year 1960–1961, providing encouragement for education in the area. Later, Sheikh Khalifa pursued further academic studies in another school named Alfalah.[16] He later graduated from theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst.[18]
In addition to his formal education, Sheikh Khalifa regularly attended his father Sheikh Zayed'sMajlis, 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]
When his father, Zayed, became emir of Abu Dhabi in 1966, Khalifa was appointed the ruler's representative in theEastern 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 toTahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan.[20]
On 1 February 1969, 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 1971 became the core of theUAE Armed Forces.[6]
In March 1976, 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 1976, he became deputy commander of the UAE Armed Forces, under the president.[24] He also became the head of theSupreme Petroleum Council in the late 1980s. 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 1981, 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.[23]
He succeeded to the post of emir of Abu Dhabi and was elected president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 3 November 2004, 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 2005, 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.[27]
In 2009, Khalifa was re-elected as president for a second five-year term.[28] He was subsequently re-elected in 2014 and 2019.
Khalifa and U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush at Abu Dhabi International Airport, 13 January 2008
In 2010, Khalifa was described in aWikiLeaks cable signed by thenU.S. ambassadorRichard G. Olson as a "distant and uncharismatic personage."[29] The cable said that Khalifa had risked his reputation and the UAE's future since 1990, when he described the United States as willing to shed blood to maintain international order and stability in theGulf.
Khalifa pledged the full support of the UAE to the Bahrain in the face of pro-democracyuprising in 2011.[32]
Later that year Khalifa was ranked as the world's fourth-wealthiest monarch, with a fortune estimated to be worth $15 billion.[33] In 2013, he commissionedAzzam, thelongest motor yacht ever built and measuring 590 ft (180 m) long, with a cost between $400–600 million.[34][35]
In January 2014, Khalifa had astroke 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]
He marriedShamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouei on October 18, 1964. 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 Al-Yazia bint Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They have 3 sons.
Sheikha bint Khalifa Al Nahyan is married to Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. They have 3 sons and 3 daughters.
Osha bint Khalifa Al Nahyan is married to Sultan bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have 6 sons and 1 daughter.
Mouza bint Khalifa Al Nahyan is married to Khalifa bin Saif Al Nahyan. They have 3 sons and 5 daughters.
Salama bint Khalifa Al Nahyan is married to Mansour bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. They have 3 sons and 1 daughter.
Latifa bint Khalifa Al Nahyan married Diyab bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan in 2012. They have 1 son and 2 daughters together.
Shamma bint Khalifa Al Nahyan is married to Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They have 3 sons.
Seychellois government records show that, between 1995 and 2010, Sheikh Khalifa had spent $2 million buying up more than 66 acres of land on the Seychelles' main island ofMahé, where what was to be his palace was being built.[39] The Seychelles' government has received large aid packages from the UAE, most notably a $130 million injection that was used in social service and military aid, which funded patrol boats for the Seychelles' anti-piracy efforts. In 2008, the UAE came to the indebted Seychelles government's aid, with a $30 million injection.[39]
Sheikh Khalifa paid $500,000 for the 29.8-acre site of his palace in 2005, according to the sales document. A Seychelles planning authority initially rejected the palace's building plans, a decision overturned by PresidentJames Michel's cabinet.[39] 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.[39]
In February 2010, 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 8000 residents.[39] 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 $81,000. Ascon blamed the incident on "unpredicted weather conditions".[39] 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 $8,000 to each of the 360 households that were affected by the pollution.[39]
Through the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, the UAE supported the Yemeni people in August 2015 with 3,000 tonnes of food and aid supplies.[40] By 19 August 2015, the foundation had sent Yemen 7,800 tonnes of food, medicine, and medical supplies.[40][41][42]
Sheikh Khalifa died on 13 May 2022, at the age of 73.[45][46] He was buried at Al Bateen Cemetery inAbu Dhabi.[47] His half-brother Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan succeeded him as ruler of Abu Dhabi upon his death,[48] and was elected president of the UAE the next day.[49]
The Ministry of Presidential Affairs announced a 40-day national mourning with flags athalf-mast along with a three-day suspension of work in private firms and the official entities at the federal and local levels of institution.[50] State mourning was also announced in many otherArab League nations. Bahrain,[51] Lebanon,[52] Oman,[53] Mauritania,[54] Qatar,[55] Egypt,[56] Morocco,[57] Maldives[58] declared official mourning and flags at half-mast for three days. In Jordan, mourning was declared for 40 days[59] while flags flew at half-mast in Kuwait.[60] Saudi Arabia declared three days of mourning with all recreational, sporting events and festivities postponed.[61] Pakistan announced a three-day mourning and flags were raised at half-mast.[62][63] Brazil declared three days of mourning,[64][65] Algeria declared two days of mourning with flags to be flown at half-mast.[66][67] Palestine declared a day of mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.[68] India also declared a period of national mourning with flags at half-staff for one day starting from 14 May 2022.[69][70] Bangladesh declared one day of state mourning on Saturday.[71] Cuba declared one day of mourning on 17 May.[72][73]
In honor of the Sheikh's legacy, one of the largest mosques in the U.A.E. was built in the city of Al Ain and named after him. It was opened to the public on 12 April 2021.[74][75][76][77][78]
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