Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi (born 1940) is the former Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, the northernmost Emirate of the United Arab Emirates. He is the eldest son of Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, who ruled Ras Al Khaimah from 1948 until his death in 2010.
Khalid served as the Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah from 1958 until his removal from office by his father in June 2003. He currently resides in Sharjah, a neighboring Emirate. Khalid has repeatedly stated that his father, Sheikh Saqr, in 2004 reaffirmed in a royal decree that Sheikh Khalid – not his half-brother, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi – was the true Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. The claim has not been officially recognized by the Government of Ras Al Khaimah or the United Arab Emirates.
Personal life and education
Khalid is one of eight brothers, most of whom hold official roles within the government of Ras Al Khaimah. He undertook his elementary schooling in Ras Al Khaimah, his secondary education in Cairo and his higher education at Loughborough University, a public university located in the East Midlands of England in the United Kingdom.
Service and record as Crown Prince
Sheikh Khalid was named Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah in 1958. As Crown Prince, Sheikh Khalid oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Ras Al Khaimah Government and served as principal contact with all foreign governments. He led high-level diplomatic missions to the United States during the Nixon, Reagan and Clinton Administrations. In 1999, President Clinton personally received him in the White House.
He served as Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, the Ras Al Khaimah National Oil Company, RAK Gas Commission and RAK Cement Company.
During his tenure as Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler, Sheikh Khalid promoted economic development including the expansion of both the International Airport and Saqr Port, the promotion of clean energy and agricultural initiatives, cement manufacturing and investment in health care.
Khalid has been called a reformer for his efforts to promote changes that would lead to greater popular participation in society in both the Emirates and the region as a whole. As the Arabic news network Al Jazeera noted, the "[r]eform minded Sheikh Khalid had asked for democratic changes in his Emirate and the Country as a whole which have later been fully accepted and integrated policies of the Federal Government of the United Arab Emirates."
Khalid also built a reputation for hardline opposition to Iran and its controversial occupation of the Tunb Islands, which had been under the long historical control of Ras Al Khaimah, but were forcibly seized by Iran on November 30, 1971.
Controversy surrounding removal from office
After 37 years in office, Khalid was removed as Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler on June 14, 2003 by his father and replaced by his younger half-brother Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi.
The removal of Sheikh Khalid as Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler caused unrest in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) and was met with street protests. Thousands of demonstrators shouted "with our souls and blood we defend you Khalid" and "no other crown prince" following his expulsion. Order was restored when Abu Dhabi, the lead emirate of the UAE, sent armored vehicles to Ras Al Khaimah.
Media reports at the time speculated that Sheikh Khalid was removed, in part, due to his support for women's rights and his opposition to Iran and its controversial occupation of the Tunb Islands. In addition, Sheikh Khalid's opposition to the war in Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath regime was seen as counter to UAE policy
Separate media reports attribute his removal from office to other factors, mainly that Sheikh Khalid was considered to be at odds with the political leadership of the UAE. Khalid's vocal hostility to the US intervention to depose Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath regime became a liability for the UAE. In 2003, he led a protest march of several hundred people through Ras-Al Khaimah that culminated with Khalid himself burning the American flag and allowed the local radio station to broadcast a consistently anti-US line. This occurred at a time when the federal government guided by Sheikh Zayed in Abu Dhabi was strengthening cooperation with the US.