Dubai: Rulers in the United Arab Emirates announced Saturday that they appointed Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the president of this hereditarily ruled nation on the Arabian Peninsula. The state-run WAM news agency said the rulers of the country's seven sheikhdoms made the decision at a meeting. It comes after the late President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan died Friday.
The transition of power marks only the third time this U.S.-allied nation of seven sheikhdoms has selected a president since becoming an independent nation in 1971. WAM described the vote as unanimous among the rulers of the country’s sheikhdoms, which also includes the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai.