Body of UAE president's brother found four days after plane crash

The body of Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the powerful younger brother of UAE's president, was found today by rescue workers, four days after his glider plane crashed into a lake in Morocco.

The body of 42-year-old Sheikh Ahmed, the managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), was found by a team of Moroccan and French divers, an unnamed investigator was quoted as saying in The National newspaper.

His body was taken to a family residence near the lake from where it would be moved to Rabat for administrative formalities before returning home to Abu Dhabi, it said. 

The funeral will take place in the capital tomorrow, the state news agency WAM reported.

The Sheikh's glider crashed into a lake near the Sidi Mohammed bin Abdullah Dam near the Moroccan capital Rabat on Friday. The pilot of the glider who was rescued after the crash is now in a stable condition.

Born in 1968, Sheikh Ahmed was ranked No 27 on Forbes list of the world's most powerful people last year. 

His sovereign wealth fund is believed to have assets of around USD 500-700 billion, ranging from Citigroup bonds to a stake in Britain's Gatwick airport to residential property in major cities.

Sheikh Ahmed, the son of UAE's founder president Sheikh Zayed, is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Zayed Foundation for Charity and Humanitarian Works.

In 2008, his elder brother, Sheikh Nasser bin Zayed Al-Nayahan had died when his helicopter crashed into the Gulf.