EXCLUSIVE — Vice President Kamala Harris is leading a presidential delegation of top Biden administration security and defense officials to the United Arab Emirates after the death of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan.
The delegation arriving Monday will include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CIA Director Bill Burns, Climate Envoy John Kerry, National Security Advisor to the Vice President Philip Gordon, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, White House Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa Barbara Leaf, and Charge d’Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy Abu Dhabi Sean Murphy, a White House official told the Washington Examiner.
BIDEN CONGRATULATES UAE PRESIDENT, HARRIS TO HEAD DELEGATION MOURNING PREDECESSOR
Harris is expected to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, a senior administration official told Axios, as reported Saturday.
Sheikh Mohamed became president of the UAE on Saturday, formalizing his role as the ruler of the oil-rich Emirati state.
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Gordon was the White House coordinator for the Middle East between 2013 and 2015. Leaf was U.S. ambassador to the UAE from 2014 to 2018. Kerry is a former secretary of state during the Obama administration.
