Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan becomes President of the UAE

Those in power in the United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday that they had unanimously appointed Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as president of this hereditary ruled nation in the Arabian Peninsula.

State news agency WAM said the rulers of the country’s seven sheikhdoms made the decision at a meeting at Al Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi.

It comes after the late President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan died on Friday. The transfer of power is only the third time this US-allied nation of seven sheikhdoms has elected a president since becoming an independent nation in 1971.

The latest, with Sheikh Khalifa taking over for his and Sheikh Mohammed’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, came a month after his death in 2004. The speed of the announcement on Saturday, just a day later, seemed destined for it , to show unity and unity to convince the world of the stability of this important oil and gas producing nation that hosts western armed forces.

WAM described the vote as unanimous among rulers of the country’s sheikdoms, which include the skyscraper-dotted city of Dubai.

“We congratulate him and swear allegiance to him, and our people swear allegiance to him,” Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said on Twitter after the vote. “All the land will be led by him to embrace the paths of glory and honor, God willing.”

The UAE as a whole is observing a three-day period of mourning, with shops shutting down across the country and performances in honor of Sheikh Khalifa halted. All electronic billboards showed the image of the late Sheikh in Dubai on Friday night as flags flew at half-mast.

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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.