Emirati Leader Returns Home After Three Months For Operation In U.S.
ABU DHABI (AFP) - Emirati President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan is to return home soon after he left a U.S. hospital where he had a kidney transplant operation three months ago, newspapers said Wednesday.
The president left Cleveland, Ohio, for London on Monday "after having recovered from a successful kidney transplant surgery," the reports said.
"Sheikh Zayed will return home soon to continue to lead the country's march towards prosperity and to make his sincere efforts to support Arab and Islamic causes," said the official news agency WAM.
The news of his imminent return comes ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan, which starts next week pending the sighting of the new crescent moon.
The authorities have been preparing a welcome party for the 82-year-old president, who has been recuperating since the operation on August 28th, and has been out of the Gulf state since July 13th when he left for Europe.
The air of the Emirati capital will be "fragrant" with French perfumes for three days to hail the return, according to newspapers.
A contract was negotiated with a French company to supply a variety of perfumes to fill the air and to be sprayed through the many fountains of the tree-lined streets of Abu Dhabi, the Khaleej Times reported in September.
Sheikh Zayed has been president since the federation of seven emirates was formed in 1971, and guided its transformation from a largely Bedouin society to one of the world's richest states thanks to oil wealth.
