The crown prince of Dubai has been appointed as Minister of Defence for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle, his father, the Dubai ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum posted on social media.
The 41-year-old Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who has served as Dubai’s crown prince since 2008, was also named as one of the UAE’s Deputy Prime Ministers.
“Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has joined the government of the UAE as Deputy Prime Minister and has been appointed Minister of Defence,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote on X.
Sheikh Hamdan is the second son of Sheikh Mohammed.
The royal graduated in 2001 from Britain’s elite Sandhurst military college and became chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, a body responsible for strategic development plans in the emirate, in 2006.
His father, Sheikh Mohammed, has been Defence Minister since the founding of the UAE in 1971, when he was just 22 years old.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE foreign minister, was also appointed as a deputy prime minister in the reshuffle.
Other new appointments include Alia Abdulla AlMazrouei as minister of state for entrepreneurship, Sarah Al Amiri as minister of education, Abdulrahman Al Awar as acting minister of higher education and scientific research, Sheikh Mohammed’s post said.
The UAE, one of the world’s largest oil producers and an ally of the United States, Russia and China, has grown to be a major power in the Middle East.
