His Excellency Zaki Nusseibeh, Minister of State, described tolerance as the genetic code of Emiratis, stressing that it is a practice that started even before the federation, and which he felt from his first meeting with the Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

He was the interpreter of Late Sheikh Zayed and his companion in many of his travels abroad.

"Since I arrived in Abu Dhabi in the 1960s, I have fallen in love with the place, especially from the way Sheikh Zayed treated me and made me feel like one of his sons."

He added that Sheikh Zayed's blessings still live with us today.

"Wherever I go, people ask me, aren't you the interpreter of Late Sheikh Zayed? I tell them yes and I am proud of that. May his soul rest in peace.”