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Dubai: UAE leaders and community leaders offered their condolences after one of the oldest friends of the UAE’s founding father passed away on Monday.

Mubarak Bin Qarran Al Mansouri was born in 1939 in the Dhafra area of Abu Dhabi, and since the sixties, was a close friend and confidant of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The close bond between the men continued until the death of Shaikh Zayed in 2004.

In 2007, Al Mansouri was appointed Chairman of the Western Region Judicial Department’s Conciliation Committee.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, described Al Mansouri, 79, as a loyal and dedicated friend of Shaikh Zayed.

“The United Arab Emirates today lost one of its faithful men. Mubarak Al Mansouri was the loyal, dedicated friend of the founder of the nation, who followed the vision of the country’s leader. He was wise and upheld the best of values. May Allah have mercy on his soul,” said Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed. 

It was only last March when Al Mansouri was last in the limelight, when he received the Abu Dhabi Awards 2018.

Along with eight other individuals, Al Mansouri was honoured by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed at the Abu Dhabi Awards 2018 for his ambitious vision, optimism, love for people and abiding patriotism.

In one of his last interviews, Al Mansouri remembered the many meetings and encounters with Shaikh Zayed and notably said: “If I spent years describing him, it still will not have done him justice.”