Emir of Dubai, prime minister of UAE and a thoroughbred racing enthusiast

DUBAI – Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum – the emir of Dubai, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and an avid thoroughbred racing enthusiast – died on Wednesday in Australia where he was attending the annual yearling auction.

He was 62. His younger brother, Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE defence minister and known for the extraordinary economic and tourism boom in oil-rich Dubai, assumed the throne immediately, as called for under the constitution.The Dubai royal court did not release a cause of death.Australia’s Queensland police said only that it was not of suspicious cause.Australian Broadcasting Corp.television said the emir died of a heart attack, and the Al-Jazeera satellite television broadcaster said he was thought to have “previously suffered from heart problems.”Sheik Maktoum, who was also vice president of the UAE, died at the exclusive Palazzo Versace hotel in the east Australian resort of Gold Coast, according to Australian police.He had arrived in Brisbane, 80 kilometres north of Gold Coast, on Dec.28 in his private Boeing 747-400 with an entourage of 33 people.Sheik Maktoum operated four stud farms – one in central Kentucky, another in England and two in Ireland.”We would concur with others around the world that a visionary leader has been lost,” said D.G.Van Clief Jr., the commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and president of Breeders’ Cup Ltd.He said that “there has been no single family in recent years more influential in the conduct of the racing and breeding than the Maktoum family.”He owned top flight thoroughbreds such as Breeders Cup Turf winner Fantastic Light, English 2 000 Guineas winner Shadeed and Irish Derby winner Shareef Dancer.”Sheik Maktoum made a hugely significant contribution to the sport of horse racing and British thoroughbred racing and breeding in particular,” said Julian Richmond-Watson, senior steward of the Jockey Club in Britain.Dubai declared 40 days of mourning and government offices were ordered closed for seven days.The stock exchanges in Dubai and Abu Dhabi ceased trading and many shops and businesses closed.Dubai TV interrupted its programs to show a picture of the smiling sheik with the voice of a Muslim cleric reading verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book.”The United Arab Emirates today lost a historic leader who devoted his life to establishing the United Arab Emirates and enhancing its structure and the welfare of its people,” the president’s office said in a statement.The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, expressed his condolences in Cairo, praising Sheik Maktoum for his “defence of Arab and Islamic causes.”Emir of Kuwait Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, in a cable of condolences, expressed his grief at the death of Sheik Maktoum and praised his “wisdom” and efforts to develop his country.Sheik Maktoum was born in the family home in Shindagha, near the mouth of Dubai Creek, educated at a British university and succeeded his father in October 1990 as ruler of Dubai, one of the seven constituent emirates of the UAE that was formed in 1971.He left much of the day-to-day government of Dubai to his younger brother, Sheik Mohammed, but he took an active interest in the Emirates’ foreign policy.He often represented the country abroad during the years when the former UAE president, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was ailing.When Sheik Zayed died in November 2004, Sheik Maktoum became acting president for a few hours until the new leader, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was proclaimed president.Sheik Maktoum’s foremost interest was horse racing.He and his younger brother worked to put Dubai on the world racing map, establishing the annual Dubai World Cup, billed as the richest horse race in the world with a US$4 million purse.Australian media said he had travelled to Brisbane for the yearling racehorse sale, the Magic Millions, later this month.His body was being flown home Wednesday and will be buried Thursday.Muslim tradition calls for burial before sundown on the day of death, unless circumstances, as in this case, prohibit that.Dubai authorities said he would be buried at Umm Hurair cemetery in Bur Dubai.- Nampa-APHis younger brother, Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE defence minister and known for the extraordinary economic and tourism boom in oil-rich Dubai, assumed the throne immediately, as called for under the constitution.The Dubai royal court did not release a cause of death.Australia’s Queensland police said only that it was not of suspicious cause.Australian Broadcasting Corp.television said the emir died of a heart attack, and the Al-Jazeera satellite television broadcaster said he was thought to have “previously suffered from heart problems.”Sheik Maktoum, who was also vice president of the UAE, died at the exclusive Palazzo Versace hotel in the east Australian resort of Gold Coast, according to Australian police.He had arrived in Brisbane, 80 kilometres north of Gold Coast, on Dec.28 in his private Boeing 747-400 with an entourage of 33 people.Sheik Maktoum operated four stud farms – one in central Kentucky, another in England and two in Ireland.”We would concur with others around the world that a visionary leader has been lost,” said D.G.Van Clief Jr., the commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and president of Breeders’ Cup Ltd.He said that “there has been no single family in recent years more influential in the conduct of the racing and breeding than the Maktoum family.”He owned top flight thoroughbreds such as Breeders Cup Turf winner Fantastic Light, English 2 000 Guineas winner Shadeed and Irish Derby winner Shareef Dancer.”Sheik Maktoum made a hugely significant contribution to the sport of horse racing and British thoroughbred racing and breeding in particular,” said Julian Richmond-Watson, senior steward of the Jockey Club in Britain.Dubai declared 40 days of mourning and government offices were ordered closed for seven days.The stock exchanges in Dubai and Abu Dhabi ceased trading and many shops and businesses closed.Dubai TV interrupted its programs to show a picture of the smiling sheik with the voice of a Muslim cleric reading verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book.”The United Arab Emirates today lost a historic leader who devoted his life to establishing the United Arab Emirates and enhancing its structure and the welfare of its people,” the president’s office said in a statement.The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, expressed his condolences in Cairo, praising Sheik Maktoum for his “defence of Arab and Islamic causes.”Emir of Kuwait Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, in a cable of condolences, expressed his grief at the death of Sheik Maktoum and praised his “wisdom” and efforts to develop his country.Sheik Maktoum was born in the family home in Shindagha, near the mouth of Dubai Creek, educated at a British university and succeeded his father in October 1990 as ruler of Dubai, one of the seven constituent emirates of the UAE that was formed in 1971.He left much of the day-to-day government of Dubai to his younger brother, Sheik Mohammed, but he took an active interest in the Emirates’ foreign policy.He often represented the country abroad during the years when the former UAE president, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was ailing.When Sheik Zayed died in November 2004, Sheik Maktoum became acting president for a few hours until the new leader, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was proclaimed president.Sheik Maktoum’s foremost interest was horse racing.He and his younger brother worked to put Dubai on the world racing map, establishing the annual Dubai World Cup, billed as the richest horse race in the world with a US$4 million purse.Australian media said he had travelled to Brisbane for the yearling racehorse sale, the Magic Millions, later this month.His body was being flown home Wednesday and will be buried Thursday.Muslim tradition calls for burial before sundown on the day of death, unless circumstances, as in this case, prohibit that.Dubai authorities said he would be bu
ried at Umm Hurair cemetery in Bur Dubai.- Nampa-AP