Ras Al-Khaimah, October 29: Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al-Qassimi will succeed his father, who died on Wednesday, as ruler of the tiny but strategic emirate of Ras al-Khaimah.
Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qassimi, 92, died in Ras al-Khaimah, the official WAM news agency of the United Arab Emirates reported earlier.
In official recognition of Sheikh Saud’s succession to the post of emir, the UAE’s Federal Supreme Council “expressed its full support for Sheikh Saud as ruler of Ras al-Khaimah,” in a statement carried by WAM.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan also praised Sheikh Saud saying he had “inherited much of his father’s wisdom.”
“This qualifies him to take part, with merit, in the leadership of the federation,” he said according to WAM.
Sheikh Saqr, who had been suffering from failing health, had ruled the emirate on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which some 40 percent of the world’s oil is shipped, since 1948.
Hundreds of people, among them Dubai ruler and UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, gathered at the Sheikh Zayed mosque for Sheikh Saqr’s funeral.
Since becoming crown prince, the US-educated Sheikh Saud has steered the development of important ceramics, pharmaceutical, and cement industries in Ras al-Khaimah which, unlike wealthier emirates, boasts no oil reserves.
Ras al-Khaimah, which has a population of about 300,000 people, is one of the seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates. The others are Abu Dhabi, which also serves as the capital, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Qaiwain.
——-Agencies