Bahrain’s former prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, has died, state media reported. He was 84 years old.
“The Royal Court mourns His Royal Highness … who passed away this morning at Mayo Clinic Hospital in the United States of America,” the Bahrain News Agency said Wednesday, without giving further details.
King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Gulf state announced the official duel for a week during which flags will be flown at half-mast, the agency said.
The burial ceremony will take place after the repatriation of his body and the funeral will be limited to a specific number of relatives, he said.
Sheikh Khalifa was one of the world’s longest-serving prime ministers who led his island nation’s government for decades and survived the 2011 Arab Spring protests that demanded his removal on corruption allegations.
its The harsh response to pro-democracy protests and criticisms of similar unrest across the Arab world underscored what for many was the defining characteristic of his career, namely a staunch defense of dynastic rule. The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain since 1783.
In August, Sheikh Khalifa left the kingdom for what the official media called at the time “a private visit abroad.” Earlier this year, he spent time in Germany for unspecified medical treatment and returned to Bahrain in March.
Bahrain, a staunch ally of neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United States, is also the base of operations for the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Controversial figure
The power and wealth of Sheikh Khalifa could be seen everywhere in Bahrain. His official portrait hung for decades on the walls alongside the country’s ruler.
He had his own private island where he met foreign dignitaries, with a marina and park that had peacocks and gazelles roaming its grounds.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) gives Special Mention for the 2006 Habitat Scroll of Honor to Sheikh Khalifa in Geneva in this July 2, 2007 photo. [File: Denis Balibouse/Reuters]
“Khalifa bin Salman represented the old guard in more ways than just age and seniority,” said Kristin Smith Diwan, senior fellow at the Washington-based Gulf Arab States Institute.
“It represented an ancient social understanding rooted in royal privilege and expressed through personal patronage.”
The son of Bahrain’s former ruler, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who ruled from 1942 to 1961, Sheikh Khalifa learned to rule alongside his father while the island remained a British protectorate.
His brother, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, assumed power in 1961 and served as monarch when Bahrain gained its independence from Great Britain in 1971. Under an informal arrangement, Sheikh Isa took over diplomacy and duties. ceremonies of the island, while Sheikh Khalifa led the government and the economy. .
The years that followed saw Bahrain develop rapidly as it sought to move beyond its dependence on dwindling oil reserves. Manama at the time served as what Dubai in the United Arab Emirates eventually became, a regional financial, service and tourism hub.
The opening of the King Fahd Causeway in 1986 gave the island nation its first land link to its rich and powerful neighbor, Saudi Arabia, and offered an escape for Westerners in the kingdom who wanted to enjoy the boozy nightclubs and beaches. from Bahrain.
But Sheikh Khalifa increasingly saw his name embroiled in corruption allegations, such as a major case of corruption practices abroad against aluminum producer Alcoa for using a London-based middleman to facilitate bribes to Bahraini officials. Alcoa agreed to pay $ 384 million in fines to the US government to settle the case in 2014.
The US embassy in Manama also had its own suspicions about Sheikh Khalifa, writing in cables that the prince had “unrecorded access to income from state-owned companies” such as Bahrain Petroleum Co and Aluminum Bahrain, the company’s aluminum company. country. producer.
“I think Shaikh Khalifa is not a totally negative influence,” former US Ambassador Ronald E Neumann wrote in a 2004 cable released by WikiLeaks. “While it is certainly corrupt, it has built up much of modern Bahrain.”
Those allegations of corruption fueled discontent, particularly among Bahrain’s majority Shiites. In February 2011, protesters inspired by the Arab Spring demonstrations across the Middle East filled the streets and occupied the Pearl Rotunda in the capital Manama to demand political reforms and a greater voice in the future of the country.
While some called for a constitutional monarchy, many others pressed for the removal of the long-ruling Prime Minister and other members of the Sunni royal family, including King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
At one point during the height of the unrest in March 2011, thousands of protesters besieged the prime minister’s office as officials gathered inside to demand the resignation of Sheikh Khalifa.
Protesters also began waving Bahraini dinar bills over allegations that the prime minister bought the land on which the Bahrain financial port development is located for just one dinar.
Bahraini officials soon crushed the protests with the backing of troops from neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Low-level unrest continued in the following years, with Shiite protesters frequently clashing with riot police.
In recent years, Sheikh Khalifa’s influence waned when he faced unexplained health problems.
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