DUBAI, Jan 4: Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, died on Wednesday in Australia at the age of 62.
Australian national radio said he died of a heart attack.
Crown Prince Shaikh Muhammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the architect of the city-state’s business boom, automatically succeeded his older brother as ruler of the emirate, one of the seven that form the UAE federation.
The succession was expected to be smooth as Shaikh Maktoum maintained a low profile during his rule, preferring to allow his younger brothers to run the day-to-day affairs of Dubai.
“The president Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan announces the death this morning of his highness Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashed Al Maktoum,” the presidential affairs ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency Wam.
“The UAE has today lost a historical leader who dedicated his life to building the nation and doing good for its people,” the statement said.
“In his quiet way, Shaikh Maktoum was a pillar of the federation,” Anthony Harris, a former British ambassador to the UAE said. “He ... was remarkable for an Arab leader because he allowed his younger brothers to have a higher profile.”
“He died from natural causes in Australia where he was on a private visit,” a UAE official told AFP. Forty days of national mourning have been declared, with government offices closed for a week and private businesses for three days. The stock exchanges in Abu Dhabi and Dubai will be closed for seven days.
Shops across Dubai were seen closing down.
As flags were brought down across official buildings, lavish celebrations, including spectacular fireworks, which had been scheduled for late Wednesday to mark the start of the annual “Dubai Shopping Festival” were cancelled.
Shaikh Maktoum will be buried in Dubai early Thursday, with the funeral ceremony due to start at 10:00 am UAE time, said Wam.
There was no official confirmation on who will succeed Shaikh Maktoum as vice-president and prime minister of the UAE.
The Supreme Federal Council, which groups the leaders of the seven emirates, was expected to meet “soon” to elect a new vice president — a position customarily held by the ruler of Dubai, the UAE official said.
The president would then propose that the new vice-president also become prime minister, said the official. It was also not immediately clear whether Shaikh Mohammed would retain his post of defence minister.
Australian media reports said the Dubai leader died while at a luxury hotel in northern Queensland state on Wednesday afternoon local time and was in the country for sales of yearling horses.
A spokesman for Brisbane International Airport said the Shaikh Maktoum’s private Boeing 747-400 was on stand-by to take his body home.
Shaikh Maktoum arrived in Brisbane on Dec 28 with a retinue of 33 people, he added.
Born in 1943 in Dubai, Shaikh Maktoum became the ruler of Dubai on October 7, 1990, on the death of his father, Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum. At his father’s death in 1990, Shaikh Maktoum also became UAE vice-president and premier.
Under Shaikh Maktoum’s rule — but mostly due to his younger brother and successor Shaikh Mohammed — the emirate of Dubai has emerged as a regional tourism and business hub.—Agencies
DUBAI, Jan 4: Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, died on Wednesday in Australia at the age of 62.
