UAE: Sheikh Zayed's first secretary dies; Sheikh Mohamed pays tribute

Abu Dhabi - Ahmed worked for more than 40 years as the secretary for Sheikh Zayed.

Ahmad Mahmoud Al Mahmoud, the first private secretary of the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, had passed away. He was 99.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Tuesday tweeted a photo of Sheikh Zayed with Ahmad, as he paid tribute to him: “He witnessed the establishment of the UAE and accompanied the late Sheikh Zayed. He served his nation honorably and will be remembered as one of the UAE’s pioneers.”

Ahmad Mahmoud worked for more than 40 years as the secretary for Sheikh Zayed, during his tenure as the representative of the ruler of Abu Dhabi in Al Ain from 1958 until 1974, according to Al Bayan.

Ambassador Mohamed Al Mahmoud, Ahmad’s son, said Sheikh Zayed chose his father to write his letters because he was good in Arabic calligraphy. He wrote the founding father’s private letters to kings, princes, sheikhs and presidents.

Ahmad was born in 1923 in the Khurais area of Al Ain, Mohamed added. Sheikh Zayed had been close to the family, so much so that when Ahmad’s father died, he came to him and said: “If your father dies, then I am your father.”