Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashed al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), died on Wednesday in Australia at the age of 62, the official news agency WAM announced.
Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the architect of the city state’s development boom, is expected to succeed him as ruler of the emirate, one of the seven that form the UAE federation.
”The president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan announces the death this morning of his highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashed al-Maktoum,” who was also the UAE’s prime minister, the presidential affairs ministry said in a statement carried by WAM.
The statement did not indicate the cause of death but the Dubai ruler’s office said that Sheikh Maktoum, who has ruled the emirate since 1990, died early on Wednesday in Australia.
Forty days of national mourning have been declared, with government offices closed for a week, WAM said. – Sapa-AFP