Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
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Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has died in his late 70s, a court statement says.
Sheikh Jaber, who had led the country since December 1977, suffered ill health and was seldom seen in public after suffering a minor stroke in 2001.
The statement announcing his death was read on Kuwaiti state television.
Concerns have grown in recent years for the Gulf state's future leadership, with the country's crown prince also in his 70s and said to be in poor health.
A 40-day period of mourning has been declared and government offices will close for three days.
Grieving Kuwaitis started to gather outside the late emir's Dasman Palace in Kuwait City on Sunday morning, the AFP news agency reports.
Exiled ruler
Sheikh Jaber, who held the post of prime minister from 1965-78 and was heir-apparent from 1966, was the 13th ruler of a 245-year-old dynasty.
He survived an assassination attempt in 1985 and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.
He fled to Saudi Arabia, where he established a government in exile, returning in March 1991 after a massive US-led international military campaign ousted the Iraqi forces.
Under Sheikh Jaber's rule, Kuwait has built close ties with the US and the UK.
The first Arab country in the Gulf to have an elected parliament, its ruling family has recently come under increasing pressure to loosen its hold on power.
The BBC's Gulf correspondent, Julia Wheeler, says Sheikh Jaber was a decisive ruler in his early days who rose swiftly through the ranks.
However, his exile during the invasion by Iraq had a traumatic effect on him and he rarely appeared in public after his return, she says.
His later years will be remembered chiefly for electoral reforms which have seen women take public office and will give them the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 2007, our correspondent adds.
Ailing successor
Sheikh Jaber will be succeeded by Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, a distant cousin chosen as the heir apparent in 1978.
The crown prince has been in ill health for several years
The crown prince was admitted to hospital in June last year suffering from a high level of blood glucose. He had previously been treated abroad for other ailments.
Although he was deputising for Sheikh Jaber, the crown prince's ill health meant many of the emir's daily duties were handed to Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Sheikh Jaber appointed Sheik Sabah - his own brother - as prime minister in 2003, breaking with a political tradition that crown princes also serve as heads of government.
Sheikh Jaber's death comes only 10 days after that of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who died aged 62 while visiting Australia.
bbc.co.uk
Sheikh Jaber, who had led the country since December 1977, suffered ill health and was seldom seen in public after suffering a minor stroke in 2001.
The statement announcing his death was read on Kuwaiti state television.
Concerns have grown in recent years for the Gulf state's future leadership, with the country's crown prince also in his 70s and said to be in poor health.
A 40-day period of mourning has been declared and government offices will close for three days.
Grieving Kuwaitis started to gather outside the late emir's Dasman Palace in Kuwait City on Sunday morning, the AFP news agency reports.
Exiled ruler
Sheikh Jaber, who held the post of prime minister from 1965-78 and was heir-apparent from 1966, was the 13th ruler of a 245-year-old dynasty.
He survived an assassination attempt in 1985 and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.
He fled to Saudi Arabia, where he established a government in exile, returning in March 1991 after a massive US-led international military campaign ousted the Iraqi forces.
Under Sheikh Jaber's rule, Kuwait has built close ties with the US and the UK.
The first Arab country in the Gulf to have an elected parliament, its ruling family has recently come under increasing pressure to loosen its hold on power.
The BBC's Gulf correspondent, Julia Wheeler, says Sheikh Jaber was a decisive ruler in his early days who rose swiftly through the ranks.
However, his exile during the invasion by Iraq had a traumatic effect on him and he rarely appeared in public after his return, she says.
His later years will be remembered chiefly for electoral reforms which have seen women take public office and will give them the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 2007, our correspondent adds.
Ailing successor
Sheikh Jaber will be succeeded by Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, a distant cousin chosen as the heir apparent in 1978.
The crown prince has been in ill health for several years
The crown prince was admitted to hospital in June last year suffering from a high level of blood glucose. He had previously been treated abroad for other ailments.
Although he was deputising for Sheikh Jaber, the crown prince's ill health meant many of the emir's daily duties were handed to Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Sheikh Jaber appointed Sheik Sabah - his own brother - as prime minister in 2003, breaking with a political tradition that crown princes also serve as heads of government.
Sheikh Jaber's death comes only 10 days after that of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who died aged 62 while visiting Australia.
bbc.co.uk
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Re: Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
Very sensitive, Desert Whine. 
He was a decent soul and considering his near neighbours, Kuwait is/was a civilised place under his rule. I lived there for a few months in the early '80s, when my father lectured at the uni there. Happy memories of it.
Hopefully, the new Emir will have a more aggressive approach to growth - along the lines of Dubai and Qatar - than his predecessor. The 1990 invasion has (understandably) left quite a deep psychological effect on the country, to the effect that the confidence hasn't really been there to invest in the country to the extent that Dubai/Qatar have done.
KU certainly needs a sharp pitchfork in the behind to bring it up to the standards and growth ambitions of its regional competitors. Again, confidence probably plays a role in that and hopefully a dynamic leader will provide that.
He was a decent soul and considering his near neighbours, Kuwait is/was a civilised place under his rule. I lived there for a few months in the early '80s, when my father lectured at the uni there. Happy memories of it.
Hopefully, the new Emir will have a more aggressive approach to growth - along the lines of Dubai and Qatar - than his predecessor. The 1990 invasion has (understandably) left quite a deep psychological effect on the country, to the effect that the confidence hasn't really been there to invest in the country to the extent that Dubai/Qatar have done.
KU certainly needs a sharp pitchfork in the behind to bring it up to the standards and growth ambitions of its regional competitors. Again, confidence probably plays a role in that and hopefully a dynamic leader will provide that.
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Re: Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
Well I would never speak ill of the dead and I'm not starting now.
BUT....
To say someone is a decent soul..... in comparison to the Iraqis/Iranians/whatever other "near-neighbouring" tyrannical wallahs of the region you want to compare with is a bit rich, don't you think???
BUT....
To say someone is a decent soul..... in comparison to the Iraqis/Iranians/whatever other "near-neighbouring" tyrannical wallahs of the region you want to compare with is a bit rich, don't you think???
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Re: Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
It would be a bit rich ... but that wasn't exactly what I said. I said he was a decent soul, period. And Kuwait, itself - the country - was a decent place under his rule, which is true.
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Re: Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
A decent soul he my have been but enough is enough, why do we have to listen to that crap on the radio here in Dubai?
And yes I know, it's easy "switch the radio off", that's what Ive done!
And yes I know, it's easy "switch the radio off", that's what Ive done!
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Re: Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber dies
Never knew him personally and can only hope that where ever he is now he is at peace but........
to say that Kuwait was a 'decent place' seems a bit of an exageration! Lived there for a couple of years in the 80's and actually quit the job without one to go to. The a**hole of the world was a reasonable description.
to say that Kuwait was a 'decent place' seems a bit of an exageration! Lived there for a couple of years in the 80's and actually quit the job without one to go to. The a**hole of the world was a reasonable description.
