Son takes UAE leadership role
Region's dignitaries pay last respects
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- The eldest son of the late leader of the United Arab Emirates has been elected successor to his father, official sources have told CNN.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, was chosen president by the country's federal council -- made up of the heads of the country's seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm al Qaiwan and Ajman.
He replaces Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who died Tuesday.
Heads of state and other foreign dignitaries turned out for the funeral prayers.
Calling him a distinguished statesman, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Sheik Zayed "devoted tireless efforts to building the state and nation and, in so doing, earned the respect of the population."
Leaders paying their respects included Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Sultan Qaboos of Oman and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf were also in attendance.
Sheikh Zayed al-Nahyan had been a founding leader and the head of state of the UAE since its founding in 1971.
His son Khalifa al-Nahyan also has been a significant political figure in the country.
Along with his role as ruler of Abu Dhabi, he has been head of Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council, which drafts oil policy, and the UAE's economic body.
Also, he is deputy supreme commander of the armed forces.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the oil boom transformed Abu Dhabi into a cosmopolitan city, and prompted politically ambitious Nahyan family members to settle in the capital, where many of them obtained positions in the expanding emirate and federal bureaucracies.
-- CNNArabic.com's Caroline Faraj contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
