Shafaq News / The President of Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani sent today, Wednesday 2 messages of condolences to the Bahraini king and the Palestinian president.

The presidency published a statement saying Barzani expressed condolences to the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa over the death of the Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa.

Barzani also expressed condolences to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the death of Saeb Erikat, the Palestinian Chief Negotiator.

Sheikh Khalifa, a dominant figure in the Gulf Arab kingdom’s politics, passed away on Wednesday morning at Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, Bahrain’s state news agency said.

Khalifa, 84, the uncle of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, had served as prime minister since the Sunni Muslim-led Island declared independence from Britain in 1971. The al-Khalifa family has ruled since 1783.

Erekat, 65, died on Tuesday in Jerusalem - the city whose eastern half he had claimed throughout a lifelong struggle for a negotiated Palestinian state that he never lived to see.

A long-serving member of the nationalist party Fatah, Erekat was secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a confidant and adviser to its former leader Yasser Arafat and his successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.