KUWAIT CITY - Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait, died Sunday, 15th Jan 2006, state television announced. The sheikh, who had been ailing since suffering a brain heamorrhage five years ago, was 79. Kuwait has declared 40 days of mourning.
Kuwait's Cabinet named the crown prince, Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah {the fourteenth Amir of Kuwait}, 76, as the new ruler of Kuwait.
Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah (born in 1930), Sheikh Saad is the eldest son of the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, former Amir of Kuwait (the eleventh Amir of Kuwait).
He was educated in Kuwait, and later joined the Handen Police College in England, where he attended specialised courses in police and security affairs till 1954. He was chosen as the heir apparent in 1978.
Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah succeeded his uncle, Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, as Amir on Dec. 31, 1977.
He was the 13th ruler of his dynasty. The Al-Sabah family has ruled Kuwait, which has the world's 10th largest oil reserves, for more than 250 years.
[Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was the third son of the late Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who was the tenth Amir of Kuwait from 1921-1950.]
In 1965, he was appointed Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait. In 1966 Sheikh Jaber was appointed as the Crown Prince. On December 31, 1977, he was proclaimed the 13th Amir.
Sheikh Jaber, born in 1928 before Kuwait became rich exporting oil and educated by private tutors in his father's palace, was considered a father figure to many Kuwaitis who generally were fond and respectful of the Amir.
Despite the wealth and well-consolidated family rule, Sheikh Jaber was considered a quiet listener who avoided ostentation. His palace in Kuwait City's Dasman neighborhood near the sea was described as a spacious but ordinary house, and bread and yogurt often satisfied him at mealtime.
The year before taking over, he set up the Fund for Future Generations - a financial safety net for Kuwaitis when the oil eventually runs out. To this day, he has ensured 10 percent of oil revenues go into the fund, which has an estimated balance of more than $60 billion.
He survived an assassination attempt in 1985 and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Like other Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf, Sheikh Jaber had backed Iraq during its 1980-88 war with Iran.
Sheikh Jaber fled Kuwait when Saddam Hussein's armoured columns invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, with orders to capture or kill him. He drove to Saudi Arabia, accompanied by most of his estimated 70 children and dozens of senior members of the royal family. He set up a government-in-exile in Taif and went on Saudi television to urge his people to resist. After a massive US-led international military campaign ousted the Iraqi forces from Kuwait on 26 Feb 1991, he returned to Kuwait in March 1991.
His exile during the invasion by Iraq had a traumatic effect on him and he rarely appeared in public after his return. 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.
Under Sheikh Jaber's rule, Kuwait built close ties with the US and the UK.
The former Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was buried, hours after his death on Sunday, 15th Jan 2006. Thousands of Kuwaitis crammed the al-Sulaibikhat cemetery as he was laid to rest in an unmarked grave.
The new Amir, Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, who suffers from a colon condition and must travel abroad periodically for medical treatment, watched from a wheelchair as the body of his distant cousin, wrapped in a Kuwaiti flag, was carried shoulder-high through a crowd of 10,000 mourners and lowered into the grave after a brief Muslim prayer.
Members of the ruling family, including Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, stood for hours at the Sulaibikhat public cemetery to accept condolences from dignitaries and ordinary Kuwaitis. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is the former Amir's half brother.
Among the heads of state who arrived to pay their respects were King Abdullah of Jordan, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Beginning with the death of King Hussein of Jordan in 1999, at least 11 countries in the Middle East have seen leadership changes:
- February 1999: King Hussein dies and is succeeded by his son, who becomes King Abdullah II.
- March 1999: The Emir of Bahrain, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, dies and is succeeded by his son, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
- June 2000: Syrian President Hafez Assad dies and is succeeded by his son, Bashar.
- April 2003: U.S.-led invasion topples Saddam Hussein. Installation of a new government is underway.
- November 2004: United Arab Amirates President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan dies and is replaced by his eldest son, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- November 2004: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dies and is succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas.
- February 2005: Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami quits under pressure after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. He is replaced by Najib Mikati, then by Fuad Saniora.
- 01 August 2005: The King of Saudi Arabia, Fahd bin Abdul Aziz dies and is succeeded by his half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.
- 04 Jan. 2006: Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, UAE, dies and is succeeded by his younger brother, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
- 2006 Jan. 4: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is incapacitated by a stroke and is replaced by his deputy, Ehud Olmert till the parliamentary election due in March 2006.
- 2006 Jan. 15: Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait, dies. Crown Prince Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah assumes the throne.
Brief history of Kuwait:
1756 - Kuwait comes under the control of the Al-Sabah family, predecessors of present Amirs.
A degree of semi-autonomy from Ottoman Turkey presnt.
1899 - To counter growing Turkish ambitions, HH the Amir, Sheikh Mubarak signed treaties with the global power of that time.
Kuwait becomes a British protectorate. Great Britain provides naval protection to Kuwait in return for Kuwait allowing
U.K. to control its foreign affairs.
1937 - Large oil reserves discovered.
1961 - June 19th, Kuwait becomes independent with the end of the British protectorate.
|
1. Sheikh Sabah I Bin Jaber: 2. Sheikh Abdullah I: 3. Sheikh Jaber I: 4. Sheikh Sabah II: 5. Sheikh Abdullah II: 6. Sheikh Mohammad I: 7. Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah: 8. Sheikh Jaber II: 9. Sheikh Salem Al-Mubarak: 10. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah: 11. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah: 12. Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah: 13. Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah: 14. Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah: |
1756-1762 1762-1812 1812-1859 1859-1866 1866-1892 1892-1896 1896-1915 1915-1917 1917-1921 1921-1950 1950-1965 1965-1977 1977-2006 2006- |
The Constitution of Kuwait defines the Amir as the "Head of the State" with his official title as "His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait". It also says that "the Amir will assume his authorities through his ministers, and his person shall be immune and inviolable. The Prime Minister and ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Amir for the general policy of the state. A law will not be issued until it is approved by the National Assembly and signed by the Amir." As Head of State, the Amir has the right to appoint the Prime Minister as also to relieve him of office. He also appoints and dismisses ministers on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Amir is also the Supreme Commander of the defence forces of Kuwait.
According to the constitution, the new Amir has up to a year to name a crown prince. The Crown Prince is the Heir Apparent to the Amir of the State of Kuwait. According to the Constitution of the State of Kuwait, "The Heir Apparent shall be designated within one year at the latest from the date of the accession of the Amir. His designation shall be affected by an Amiri Order upon the nomination of the Amir and the approval of the National Assembly, which shall be approved by a majority vote of its members in a special sitting."
