Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan with then President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 10 September 2007.

Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎), (born January 25, 1945), referred to either as Sheikh Nahyan or Sheikh Khalifa is the current President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and emir of Abu Dhabi. He succeeded to the post on 3 November 2004, replacing his father Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had died the day before. He had effectively been acting president earlier, since his father was in ill health.

Following the establishment of the UAE on 2 December 1971, Sheikh Khalifa became Deputy Prime Minister of the federal state under his father, who was President. In May 1976 he became deputy commander of the UAE armed forces. He also heads the Supreme Petroleum Council, which enjoys wide powers in energy matters.

Sheikh Khalifa is known for his interest in sports traditional to UAE, chiefly horse and camel racing. A building in the theology department at Lampeter is named after him, due to his being a benefactor. He is generally regarded as a pro-Western modernizer. Early in his term, in April 2005, he authorized a 100% salary increase for employees of the state.

On 1 December 2005, the President announced that half of the members of the Federal National Council, the closest body the country has to a parliament, will be indirectly elected. However, half of the council's members will still need to be appointed by the leaders of the emirates. The 40-member FNC serves in an advisory capacity. The elections were set to take place in December 2006.

[edit] Philanthropy

According to Forbes, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the world's second wealthiest royal, with an estimated wealth of 23 billion USD.^[2]

On 30 April 2007, Johns Hopkins Medicine announced [1] a "magnificent" and "transformational" gift by Sheikh Khalifa, most of which, made in honor of Sheikh Khalifa’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was planned to support construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s new cardiovascular and critical care tower (also to be named after Sheikh Zayed). Additionally, some funds would be directed to cardiovascular as well as AIDS research. He also announced the funding of Sheikh Khalifa City in the Gaza Strip.

[edit] See also

• Al Nahyan family
• List of national leaders
• List of rulers of separate Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
• List of the wealthiest royals

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Biography oh U.A.E. President
• Late Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Website

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