ABU DHABI:
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan has undergone an operation after suffering a stroke and is in a stable condition, the ministry of presidential affairs said on Saturday.
“Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan suffered a stroke [early on Friday] that led doctors to operate him… He is in a stable condition,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the WAM state news agency. It gave no further details.
Sheikh Khalifa, 65, became president of the UAE and ruler of the emirate of Abu Dhabi in November 2004, when he succeeded his late father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, who founded the federation in 1971. He is the eldest of Sheikh Zayed’s 19 sons.
Born in 1948, he is known as a pro-Western moderniser whose low-key approach helped steer the Gulf Arab state through a tense era in regional politics.
Analysts say the popular leader has helped maintain the ruling family’s ties with important clans and leaders of the other emirates, helping the UAE manage the fall-out from Dubai’s debt crisis in 2009, and has tried to balance ties with countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Abu Dhabi sits on the bulk of the UAE’s oil wealth – ranked the world’s seventh largest – which makes it the wealthiest among the seven UAE sheikhdoms.
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