The UAE, the Arab world and the whole world mourn the passing of a great and visionary leader. President His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan will be remembered as the founding father of the United Arab Emirates and as a human being of remarkable understanding, who was able to guide his people through decades of dramatic and continuing change. He did so by ensuring that they kept faith in themselves and their society.Shaikh Zayed worked to build the UAE as a true union of emirates within a single federal structure, and his greatest lasting monument is the successful nation into which the UAE has grown. Shaikh Zayed worked tirelessly to build the UAE from 1968 when the federation was first mooted until 1971, when it was launched, and then through all the testing moments of building a nation from many strong and separate traditions which, through the decades, merged into the one nation that we know today. This success of the UAE is not an accident, but is due to the devotion and leadership given by Shaikh Zayed.
As the president of the United Arab Emirates since its foundation, Shaikh Zayed was a human being who strove to help his fellows to improve their lot and fulfil their potential. He was instrumental in building the vibrant society which is now the UAE. From the beginning, he placed primary importance on the human potential of the emirates, building steadily on the potential of its young people. He was an unstinting supporter of education and encouraged all individuals to learn and summon their inner abilities to deliver what the UAE required of them.
Shaikh Zayed was one of the original leaders who established the Gulf Cooperation Council, which became the heart of the way in which the member nations are seeking their way forward in the turbulent politics of the Gulf and Arab world. He recognised from the beginning that cooperation based on mutual respect and trust was essential to arrive at a better future. His consistent and unswerving drive to build consensus marked him out as one of the great leaders of the Arab world.
In the Arab world, he has stood out as a statesman who did not look for the quick advantage, but lived by his principles and encouraged others to do the same. He was a steadfast supporter of the Palestinian cause, seeking a full and just settlement. He did not support the various attempts to reach a partial settlement, remaining firm on the basic conditions that a full and complete peace required full restitution of the Palestinian territories. Again, he tirelessly made the point that mutual respect and trust were essential, and that the Israelis had to learn this.
In his famous statement emphasising that the Gulf's oil wealth was not an end in itself, but part of the UAE's heritage and therefore part of the Arab world's resources, he said that "petrol cannot be more important than Arab blood".
More recently, he was remarkable as the sole world leader who tried to avert the invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition. He offered Saddam Hussain a way out of the tragedy about to envelop the Iraqi people, when he suggested that he be granted asylum. It is a tragedy that, just as Saddam did not take him up on his offer, the coalition against Saddam did not give more time for the UAE's offer to work. The ensuing war has cost thousands of innocent lives and to this day, plunged Iraq into insecurity and turmoil.
Fundamental to Shaikh Zayed's life was his faith. As a Muslim, he placed Islam at the heart of his own life and the policies of his nation. The timeless truths of Islam, the virtues of honesty and trust in one's fellow human beings, were the sure guide on which he based his decisions. Throughout his 86 years of life, his consistent application of his faith was an infinite source of strength to him.
It also allowed him to unhesitatingly and unequivocally condemn those so-called Muslims who seek to advance their cause through violence and terrorism. Shaikh Zayed did not waste any time in condemning them as criminals and as people who should be brought to justice as quickly as possible.
His years in the deserts of the UAE gave Shaikh Zayed a sure knowledge of the environment. Having lived so close to it for many years, he knew the importance of working with nature as he struggled to improve the resources available to the country. The green UAE that we know today stands as a lasting monument to both his willingness to put so much of the country's resources into driving the desert back, and his insistence that this should be done with understanding of the local environment so that the changes would last.
The UAE's strength today is Shaikh Zayed's greatest achievement. The extraordinary change that the great oil wealth brought to the small and poor societies that had made up the UAE before oil was discovered, could have destroyed many nations. It is Shaikh Zayed's, and the United Arab Emirates' greatest achievement that, based on this solid foundation, it confidently looks to the future.
