Kuwait has sworn in its new emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, to receive the body of his half-brother, the late ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah who died in the United States at the age of 91.
The body of Sheikh Sabah, an acclaimed diplomat and mediator who ruled for 14 years, is expected to arrive in Kuwait City later on Wednesday. He died on Tuesday in Minnesota where he had been undergoing treatment in hospital since July
According to the royal court, the funeral will be “restricted to the emir’s relatives” – a move likely designed to avoid large crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Kuwait’s new leader, 83-year-old Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf, was sworn in at about 08:00 GMT during a session of the National Assembly. The Gulf state has already begun a 40-day period of national mourning.
Sheikh Sabah earned a reputation as a remarkable leader who helped steer his country through the 1990 Iraqi invasion, crashes in global oil markets and upheavals in parliament and on the streets.
World leaders and Kuwaitis alike have hailed the legacy of the late emir, architect of the nation’s modern foreign policy and mediator in some of the worst crises to grip the Gulf.