Conditions hamper search for Sheikh Ahmed



OUM AZZA, MOROCCO // Difficult terrain is hampering the search for Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose glider crashed into a Moroccan lake on Friday. Moroccan authorities were still searching yesterday for Sheikh Ahmed, the managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the emirate's large sovereign wealth fund, and a younger brother of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

The lake is near Oum Azza, a farming village that Sheikh Ahmed visited regularly in recent years. A UAE search and rescue team said yesterday the operation was being affected by conditions at the man-made lake, in a statement released by the state news agency, WAM. Sheikh Ahmed went missing on Friday when a glider he was in crashed into the lake, east of the capital, Rabat, beside a waterfront estate where the sheikh had been staying.

The aircraft's pilot, a Spaniard, was rescued shortly after the crash and taken to a Rabat hospital, said a representative of the Spanish Embassy, referring to the man as a co-pilot. According to its statement, the rescue team left the Emirates for Morocco on Friday and is continuing its search at Sidi Mohammed ben Abdellah dam, near the Moroccan capital. The team was quoted as saying the search is "extremely difficult" due to the "difficult terrain" surrounding the site, which it said consists of rivers, mountains and marshes.

The condition of the pilot was "good and stable", the statement added. It remains unclear how the accident happened. Sgt Ryan Reid, a police search-and-rescue diver from Cheshire Constabulary's North West police underwater search unit in the UK, said the biggest factor influencing recovery operations is information from witnesses. "If an eyewitness can identify an area to search within the lake, then that will help a great deal," he said.

"If you have a witness who can identify where the crash took place, that will speed things up. If not, then you have to search the whole area." Among witnesses to the crash were local fishermen. Some of Oum Azza's several hundred residents venture onto the lake in rowboats to earn extra money through fishing, locals said. Since Friday, most have been taking part in the search. The incident is the third of its kind in the past few weeks in the Rabat area. Two police gliders had previously crashed, according to Alarabiya.net.

A gardener employed at the estate, Said, said he returned from noon prayers at the local mosque last Friday to find the household in a panic because of the crash. "Sheikh Ahmed is known for his generosity and people around here like him," he said on Saturday while resting on a roadside near the complex. Yesterday, security officials blocked access to the estate. jthorne@thenational.ae * With additional reporting by Charlie Hamilton in Abu Dhabi

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Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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