Emirati leader returns home after days-long trip abroad

By Ahmed al-Masri

DOHA, Qatar (AA) - United Arab Emirates President Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan returned home this week following a days-long trip overseas, the UAE’s official WAM news agency reported.

“Sheikh Khalifa returned home yesterday after a private visit abroad that lasted several days,” the news agency said.

It did not provide any further details or disclose which country al-Nahyan had visited or the reason for his trip.

Nor did it publish any photos of his arrival.

Since suffering a stroke in early 2014, al-Nahyan has largely refrained from attending state functions and has very rarely appeared in public.

In June of last year, he left the UAE for a three-month “private” trip abroad, fuelling speculation that he was in poor health.

And in January of this year, the UAE president took another week-long “private” trip to an undisclosed destination.

Al-Nahyan, 69, who also serves as ruler of Abu Dhabi, is the eldest son of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan.

He was elected by the UAE’s Supreme Council of the Union as the country’s president in 2004.