DUBAI - Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, Shaikh Hamdan is the second son of the late Shaikh Rashid. He has held this portfolio since the mid-1970s. He heads the Dubai Municipal Council. He has held this post since the 1970s. The council acts as a local government and, by implication, Hamdan can be regarded as a local prime minister. But he does not act as such.

In addition, Hamdan is the deputy ruler of Dubai. He is president of the governing board of the Dubai Ports Authority. He has been the UAE's chief representative at the IMF, the OPEC Fund and to the Arab states. He frequently accompanies UAE President Shaikh Zayed on state visits. Like Maktoum, however, Hamdan is less dynamic or bold than his younger brother Mohammed (see OMT). Hamdan is considered the squire among the four Al Maktoum brothers and is the treasurer of Dubai.

Hamdan was born in 1945. He received his higher education at Cambridge (UK). He began his career as a UAE minister as the union was created in December 1971. Apart from his passion for horses, he likes hunting.

An aide close to both Shaikhs Hamdan and Mohammed is Qassim Sultan, the long-serving director-general of Dubai Municipality and chairman of the Dubai 2003 organising committee. The day-to-day head of this committee, among other things in charge of facilitating the joint IMF/World Bank conferences in September 2003, is Ibrahim Belsalah who is the general co-ordinator for Dubai 2003.

Shaikh Ahmad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Born in 1950 as the fourth son of the late Shaikh Rashid, Ahmad is the youngest of the ruling Maktoum brothers. With a high military rank, he heads the local security forces. But he is often abroad and still has the reputation of a "playboy".

Shaikh Ahmad graduated from the Mons Officer Cadet Training College in Britain. He began his career as chief of police and internal security in 1973.

In 1977, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Rashid became head of the central command of the Dubai armed forces. He likes hunting and motoring, apart from the common Maktoum passion for horses.