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By Haitham Haddadin
22 minutes ago
KUWAIT (Reuters) - The ruler of U.S. ally Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who rebuilt his Gulf Arab state after U.S.-led forces drove
Saddam Hussein's occupation troops from the country in 1991, died on Sunday at the age of 78.
Kuwait's cabinet named the major oil producer's ailing crown prince, Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah, as its ruler after the emir's death from a long illness.
Analysts expected no change in Kuwait's oil policies and pro-Western outlook under the 76-year-old new emir, who is largely incapacitated by illness.
He is likely to be a figurehead while Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah runs the country -- a role he has played over the past four years.
"According to the constitution ... and in accordance with the rules of succession, the cabinet calls on the heir and crown prince ... as emir of the country," said a cabinet statement read out on state television.
Sheikh Jaber suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2001, which limited his duties in the country.
He fled to Saudi Arabia in 1990 when Iraqi troops invaded but returned after the occupation ended to lead the rebuilding of a land scarred by killing, torture and brutal Iraqi rule. He also oversaw the rehabilitation of oilfields set on fire by retreating Iraqi troops.
U.S.-led forces used Kuwait as its main staging ground for the 2003 invasion of
Iraq that toppled Saddam. Kuwait hosts up to 30,000 U.S. troops and is home to some 13,000 U.S. citizens.
Hundreds of Kuwaitis and expatriates, some sobbing and reading the Koran, gathered outside the emir's Dasman palace in Kuwait City.
"This is the only emir I have known since my birth, he has been helpful to orphans like me; he was the one who looked after us and today he is dead; that's why I am crying," law student Fahd al-Ajmi, 23, told Reuters.
AVERTING CRISIS
Analysts said Sheikh Saad's appointment was aimed at averting a crisis within the ruling family, which traditionally must alternate the leadership between its two branches.
"The country has been run by (Prime Minister) Sheikh Sabah for years. Policy will remain stable. It will not be affected by any change in the guard," former Kuwaiti oil minister Ali al-Baghli told Reuters.
The ill health of Sheikh Jaber and Sheikh Saad caused concern at home and abroad over the leadership.
Calls by parliamentarians and members of the opposition for the Kuwaiti government to replace the crown prince and to share power have also clouded the succession process.
Kuwaiti oil officials also said on Sunday the country would stick to its policy of keeping global markets well supplied.
"Kuwait's (oil) policy will not change," an official, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone. "The oil sector is running as normal, both production and exports."
Kuwait, which controls about 10 percent of known global oil reserves. pumps at around 2.68 million barrels per day (bpd).
Condolences poured in from several Arab leaders. Sheikh Jaber will be buried later on Sunday at the Sulaibikhat cemetery. Kuwait declared a 40-day period of mourning and government offices, banks and the stock market would close for three days.
The emir was the 13th ruler of a dynasty that has ruled Kuwait for more than two centuries. The Anaiza tribe, to which the al-Sabahs belong, migrated from the Arabian hinterland.
The ruling family has come under pressure from both Islamists and pro-Western liberals to loosen its grip on the government and share power.
Kuwait has cracked down on Islamists opposed to the U.S. military presence in the country, though diplomats say radical Islam is taking hold among Kuwaiti youth.
(Additional reporting by H. Hashim Ahmed, Oussama Mohammad and Stephanie McGehee in Kuwait, Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai)
22 minutes ago
KUWAIT (Reuters) - The ruler of U.S. ally Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who rebuilt his Gulf Arab state after U.S.-led forces drove
Saddam Hussein's occupation troops from the country in 1991, died on Sunday at the age of 78.
Kuwait's cabinet named the major oil producer's ailing crown prince, Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah, as its ruler after the emir's death from a long illness.
Analysts expected no change in Kuwait's oil policies and pro-Western outlook under the 76-year-old new emir, who is largely incapacitated by illness.
He is likely to be a figurehead while Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah runs the country -- a role he has played over the past four years.
"According to the constitution ... and in accordance with the rules of succession, the cabinet calls on the heir and crown prince ... as emir of the country," said a cabinet statement read out on state television.
Sheikh Jaber suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2001, which limited his duties in the country.
He fled to Saudi Arabia in 1990 when Iraqi troops invaded but returned after the occupation ended to lead the rebuilding of a land scarred by killing, torture and brutal Iraqi rule. He also oversaw the rehabilitation of oilfields set on fire by retreating Iraqi troops.
U.S.-led forces used Kuwait as its main staging ground for the 2003 invasion of
Iraq that toppled Saddam. Kuwait hosts up to 30,000 U.S. troops and is home to some 13,000 U.S. citizens.
Hundreds of Kuwaitis and expatriates, some sobbing and reading the Koran, gathered outside the emir's Dasman palace in Kuwait City.
"This is the only emir I have known since my birth, he has been helpful to orphans like me; he was the one who looked after us and today he is dead; that's why I am crying," law student Fahd al-Ajmi, 23, told Reuters.
AVERTING CRISIS
Analysts said Sheikh Saad's appointment was aimed at averting a crisis within the ruling family, which traditionally must alternate the leadership between its two branches.
"The country has been run by (Prime Minister) Sheikh Sabah for years. Policy will remain stable. It will not be affected by any change in the guard," former Kuwaiti oil minister Ali al-Baghli told Reuters.
The ill health of Sheikh Jaber and Sheikh Saad caused concern at home and abroad over the leadership.
Calls by parliamentarians and members of the opposition for the Kuwaiti government to replace the crown prince and to share power have also clouded the succession process.
Kuwaiti oil officials also said on Sunday the country would stick to its policy of keeping global markets well supplied.
"Kuwait's (oil) policy will not change," an official, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone. "The oil sector is running as normal, both production and exports."
Kuwait, which controls about 10 percent of known global oil reserves. pumps at around 2.68 million barrels per day (bpd).
Condolences poured in from several Arab leaders. Sheikh Jaber will be buried later on Sunday at the Sulaibikhat cemetery. Kuwait declared a 40-day period of mourning and government offices, banks and the stock market would close for three days.
The emir was the 13th ruler of a dynasty that has ruled Kuwait for more than two centuries. The Anaiza tribe, to which the al-Sabahs belong, migrated from the Arabian hinterland.
The ruling family has come under pressure from both Islamists and pro-Western liberals to loosen its grip on the government and share power.
Kuwait has cracked down on Islamists opposed to the U.S. military presence in the country, though diplomats say radical Islam is taking hold among Kuwaiti youth.
(Additional reporting by H. Hashim Ahmed, Oussama Mohammad and Stephanie McGehee in Kuwait, Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai)
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