FUJAIRAH // The mother of martyred pilot Zayed Al Kaabi said Wednesday’ rain was “the sky shedding tears of joy today, welcoming my dearest son”.
Saadeh Naseb was joined by hundreds who turned out to honour the 37-year-old, who died on his birthday on Monday along with Mohammed Al Hmoudi when their jet fighter crashed in Yemen.
Al Kaabi was serving in Yemen alongside his brother Adel. He leaves behind four children and a pregnant wife, having discovered only four days before he died that he was to become a father again.
Family members, friends and relatives from across the country gathered at Al Mamoun Mosque in Merbeh to say their last goodbyes and to pray to Allah to bless his soul.
“He was kind to me and to all the family,” his grieving mother said. “He used to be first in his class since he was a little boy. His father died when he was 11 years old and now he has left his son Khalifa, who is also 11.”
After the funeral, Khames, another of Al Kaabi’s brothers, brought home the flag used to wrap the martyr’s body and handed it to his mother with pride, asking her to smell it.
“I can smell musk because it is a piece of heaven,” said Ms Naseb, 69.
Al Kaabi graduated from Khalifa bin Zayed Air College in 1998 and married in 2004. The family had last seen him on February 29, 14 days before his death, although he was always in contact with his mother and wife.
“I woke up on Monday morning looking for the phone to call Zayed and Adel, because they are both in Yemen,” Ms Naseb said. “I can’t have my breakfast before hearing from them, but I didn’t find it, my daughters had hidden it, so I didn’t know about my son.”
Al Kaabi’s sister, Amna Al Kaabi said: “I was at work when my younger sister called me and said that I should come home quickly to take my mother to the hospital for an appointment, but I was somehow suspicious.
“When I arrived, I saw my older brother’s car parked outside my mother’s house.
“When I entered, he looked at me and said with tears in his eyes, ‘congratulations, your brother has become a martyr’.
“He died on his birthday. We sent him – before we knew about the accident – our birthday wishes through WhatsApp, but he never opened them and they will stay unread.
“His wife found out last Thursday that she is pregnant and they were expecting a baby.”
Sheikh Mohammed Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, performed the funeral prayer, and senior officials, Armed Forces officers and police officers were in attendance.
Al Kaabi was laid to rest at Merbeh Cemetery.
rhaza@thenational.ae
Boulder shooting victims
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• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
Rating: 5/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs
Engine: Single front-axle electric motor
Power: 218hp
Torque: 330Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 402km (claimed)
Price: From Dh215,000 (estimate)
On sale: September
Company profile
Name: Homie Portal LLC
Started: End of 2021
Founder: Abdulla Al Kamda
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Current number of staff: 14
Investment stage: Launch
Investors: Self-funded
Living in...
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kinetic 7
Started: 2018
Founder: Rick Parish
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Industry: Clean cooking
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Self-funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SupplyVan
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Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 29
Sector: MRO and e-commerce
Funding: Seed
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Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
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Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
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Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
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Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
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Final: Dubai Hurricanes v Jebel Ali Dragons
Saturday, 8.15pm, Al Ain Amblers
Semi-final results
Dubai Exiles 20-26 Dubai Hurricanes
Dubai Tigers 32-43 Jebel Ali Dragons
Table
1 Dubai Tigers, 33 points
2 Dubai Exiles, 24 points
3 Dubai Hurricanes, 18 points
4 Jebel Ali Dragons, 14 points
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Signs of heat stroke
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Company profile
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Industry: FinTech
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Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
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Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SAUDI ARABIA RESULTS
Main card
Middleweight:
Robert Whittaker defeated Ikram Aliskerov via knockout (Round 1)
Heavyweight:
Alexander Volkov def Sergei Pavlovich via unanimous decision
Middleweight:
Kelvin Gastelum def Daniel Rodriguez via unanimous decision
Middleweight:
Shara Magomedov def Antonio Trocoli via knockout (Round 3)
Light heavyweight:
Volkan Oezdemir def Johnny Walker via knockout (Round 1)
Preliminary Card
Lightweight:
Nasrat Haqparast def Jared Gordon via split decision
Featherweight:
Felipe Lima def Muhammad Naimov via submission (Round 3)
Welterweight:
Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Nicolas Dalby via split decision
Bantamweight:
Muin Gafurov def Kang Kyung-ho via unanimous decision
Light heavyweight:
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov def Brendson Ribeiro via majority decision
Bantamweight:
Chang Ho Lee def Xiao Long via split decision
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Started: 2017
Founders: Karthik Mahadevan and Karthik Kannan
Based: The Netherlands
Sector: Technology/Assistive Technology
Initial investment: $1.5 million
Current number of staff: 20
Investment stage: Seed
Investors: 4impact, ABN Amro, Impact Ventures and group of angels
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Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 118hp
Torque: 149Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Price: From Dh61,500
On sale: Now
FROM THE ASHES
Director: Khalid Fahad
Starring: Shaima Al Tayeb, Wafa Muhamad, Hamss Bandar
Rating: 3/5