Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa. (Screengrab)
Bahrain’s Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa has died at the age of 84, the royal palace announced on Wednesday on Twitter.
Prince Khalifa, who was one of the world’s longest-standing prime ministers, had been receiving treatment at a Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, the Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported without specifying what he was being treated for.
The burial ceremony will take place in Bahrain once his body arrives in the country and will be limited to a specific number of relatives to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, according to BNA.
Bahrain’s King ordered a week-long period of mourning and the suspension of all governmental work for three days starting from Thursday, the BNA said.
Prince Khalifa was born on November 24, 1935. The late prime minister assumed his post in 1970, just a year before Bahrain’s independence on August 1971.
He had previously been the head of Bahrain’s State Council and the head of the Supreme Defense Council.