French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday paid homage to the deceased president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, calling him "a man of peace and vision". "The work accomplished by Sheikh Zayed is immense," Chirac wrote in a letter to Zayed's eldest son, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the new ruler of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Zayed died Tuesday at age 86 after a long illness. "A man of peace and vision, he never ceased promoting the values of compromise, reason and dialogue in a region agitated by crises and conflicts," Chirac wrote.