Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Twitter/@MohamedBinZayed)
The US President further added, As I told Sheikh Mohammed yesterday during our phone call, the United States is determined to honour the memory of the late president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan by continuing to strengthen the strategic partnership between our countries over the coming months and years.”
Earlier on Saturday, the 61-year-old was named president of the country. The Federal Supreme Council of the UAE convened to elect Sheikh Mohammed as the new president. He also succeeded Sheikh Khalifa as ruler of Abu Dhabi. Notably, Abu Dhabi has UAE’s 90 percent oil wealth.
Sheikh Mohamed was the UAE’s long-time de facto ruler. He used to run the country from behind the scenes as Sheikh Khalifa was sidelined due to ill health in 2014. Sheikh Mohamed has previously served as the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces since January 2005. Sheikh Khalifa died on Friday. He was buried at Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen cemetery after a simple ceremony.
