Biden offers condolences to UAE on death of late president

WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden offered condolences to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday for the death of late President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

"Sheikh Khalifa was a true partner and friend of the United States throughout his decades-long tenure as President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and in his earlier role as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi," Biden said in a statement.

"We will honor his memory by continuing to strengthen the longstanding ties between the governments and people of the United States and the United Arab Emirates," he added.

In a statement, the Emirates' presidential affairs ministry announced Sheikh Khalifa's death, mourning for "the people of the UAE, the Arab and Islamic nation, and the whole world, the leader of the nation His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan," according to the official news agency (WAM).

Born in 1948, Sheikh Khalifa was chosen in 2004 to succeed his long-serving father Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan who ascended the throne in 1971.