DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's ruling emir, 86-year-old Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, died Saturday after a three-year, low-key rule focused on resolving the small, oil-rich country's internal political problems Conflicts.
Shortly before a sombre official made the announcement, Kuwaiti state television broke into the broadcast of Quranic verses.
“It is with great sadness and sadness that we – the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations and the friendly peoples of the world – mourn His Highness the Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, who passed away in the name of his Lord today,” said Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al Sabah, minister of his Emirian court, who read out the brief statement.
Authorities did not give a cause of death.
The deputy ruler of Kuwait and his half-brother, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, now 83, are considered the oldest crown prince in the world. He is about to take power in Kuwait and represents one of the last octogenarian leaders of the Arab Gulf states.
In late November, Sheikh Nawaf was hospitalized for an unspecified illness. Since then, Kuwait has been waiting for news about his health. State news previously reported that he traveled to the United States in March 2021 for unspecified medical examinations.
The health of Kuwait's leadership remains a sensitive issue in the Middle Eastern country, which also borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and where infighting has raged behind palace doors.
Those from Sheikh Nawaf's lifetime, those born before oil completely transformed Kuwait from a trading hub to a petroleum state, have faded with age. This, and the fact that other Gulf Arab states are bringing younger and more confident rulers to power, has put increasing pressure on Al Sabah to pass power to the next generation.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, 87-year-old King Salman is widely believed to have placed day-to-day rule over his country in the hands of his 38-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Sheikh Nawaf was sworn in as Emir in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic following the death of his predecessor, the late Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. The great and deep emotion over the loss of Sheikh Sabah, who was known for his diplomacy and peacemaking, was felt throughout the region.
Sheikh Nawaf was previously Kuwait's interior and defense minister. His political fate was never certain, despite being part of the ruling Al-Sabah family. As defense minister, Sheikh Nawaf oversaw the rapid collapse of his armed forces during Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's invasion of his country in August 1990. He was widely criticized for his decisions during the war.
A letter to the country's then-ruler reportedly claimed that Sheikh Nawaf had ordered tank crews not to fire on approaching Iraqi forces. The reasoning for the alleged order remains unclear. After years of war with Iran, Iraq's battle-hardened forces easily overwhelmed the country.
A U.S.-led multinational force later drove Iraqis out of Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Storm. Al Sabah never published the results of its investigations into the government's actions surrounding the invasion.
“Our main goal is liberation. “After we return, we will repair our own house,” Sheikh Nawaf said in 1991. “One must reform and correct all previous mistakes.”
He faced demotion and did not hold a Cabinet-level position for about a decade afterward, instead serving as deputy chief of the country's National Guard. Even after his return, analysts did not consider him to be particularly active in government, although his reserved attitude later appealed to some Kuwaitis, who eventually moved on from his wartime achievements.
Sheikh Nawaf was a largely uncontroversial choice for emir, although his advancing age led analysts to believe his tenure would be short-lived. It was – he had the third-shortest term of any emir since Al Sabah's rule over Kuwait from 1752.
During his time in office, he had focused on domestic issues as the nation struggled with political disputes – including the overhaul of Kuwait's welfare system – that prevented the sheikdom from taking on debt. That has left the country with little left to pay bloated public sector salaries, despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves.
In 2021, Sheikh Nawaf issued a long-awaited amnesty decree, pardoning and reducing the sentences of nearly three dozen Kuwaiti dissidents in an attempt to defuse a major government stalemate. Shortly before his illness, he called for another election with the aim of resolving the political impasse that also led to Kuwait holding three separate parliamentary elections under his rule.
“He earned his title – he has a nickname here, they call him 'The Emir of Pardons,'” said Bader al-Saif, assistant professor of history at Kuwait University. “No one in modern Kuwaiti history has gone so far to reach out to the other side and open up.”
Kuwait is considered to be the country with the freest parliament in the Gulf, which comparatively allows dissenting opinions.
Meanwhile, Gulf Cooperation Council states, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, restored relations after years of Doha boycott, easing regional tensions and allowing Sheikh Nawaf to focus on the issues at home country to concentrate.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his condolences.
“His Highness was a great friend of the United Kingdom and we will fondly remember everything he did for our bilateral relationship and his work to promote stability in the Middle East,” Sunak said in a statement released by his office.
Kuwait, a country of about 4.2 million people that is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, has the sixth-largest known oil reserves in the world.
It has been a loyal ally of the US since the Gulf War in 1991. Kuwait is home to around 13,500 American soldiers in the country and is the headquarters of the US Army in the Middle East.
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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report