Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reached United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a one-day visit to offer condolences over the death of Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the brother of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
According to a tweet by the PML-N, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE and senior UAE officials received the premier on his arrival in Abu Dhabi.
Earlier, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the premier would meet the UAE president during his brief trip and extend condolences to the latter on behalf of the Pakistani nation.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and special assistant to the premier Tariq Fatemi are also accompanying the prime minister.
The UAE Presidential Court had announced Sheikh Saeed’s death in an obituary notice published by state news agency WAM on Thursday. It also said that a three-day mourning period would be observed, with flags flown at half-mast across the country, from July 27 to July 29.
According to Khaleej Times, Sheikh Saeed was laid to rest at Al Bateen Cemetery in Abu Dhabi on Thursday afternoon. The report said Sheikh Saeed was born in 1965 in Al Ain and was appointed the ruler’s representative in Abu Dhabi in June 2010.
A day earlier, PM Shehbaz said he was “deeply grieved” at the news and extended condolences to the royal family and the people of UAE.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also said that he was deeply saddened by the death of Sheikh Saeed.
