Known as the “wise man of the region,” the 91-year-old Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah of Kuwait died Tuesday after decades as a leading figure in the government of the wealthy Gulf nation. in oil.
Born in 1929, Sheikh Sabah is widely regarded as the architect of modern Kuwait’s foreign policy, having been Foreign Minister for nearly 40 years between 1963 and 2003, when he became Prime Minister.
“With great sadness and grief, we mourn … the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait,” Sheikh Ali Jarrah al-Sabah, Minister in Charge of Royal Affairs, said in a television broadcast.
Sheikh Sabah was the 15th leader of a Kuwaiti family that has ruled for more than 250 years. A longtime widower, he lived for years in a palace known as Dar Salwa, named after his daughter Salwa, who died of cancer in 2002. Sheikh Sabah is survived by two sons.
In August 2019, Kuwait acknowledged that Sheikh Sabah suffered an unspecified medical “setback” that required his admission to hospital.
In July 2020, he flew to the United States seeking medical attention after undergoing surgery. A US Air Force C-17 flight hospital transported Sheikh Sabah from Kuwait to Rochester, Minnesota, home to the Mayo Clinic’s flagship campus. The great respect for Sheikh Sabah could be seen in the great support he received throughout the Middle East when he suddenly fell ill.
‘Valued discretion and moderation’
Sheikh Sabah used his decades as the oil-rich nation’s top diplomat to push for closer ties with Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises.
His 2006 ascension in Kuwait, a staunch US ally since the US-led war that drove out occupying Iraqi troops, came after Parliament voted unanimously to overthrow his predecessor, the ailing Sheikh Saad al -Abdullah al-Sabah, just nine days after his rule.
Yet as the ruling emir of Kuwait, he struggled with internal political squabbles, the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, and ups and downs in crude oil prices that chewed up a national budget that provided cradle-to-grave subsidies.
“He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and restraint and the importance of personal ties between their fellow monarchs,” said Kristin Diwan, Resident Principal Investigator at the Gulf Arab States Institute in Washington, DC , who studies Kuwait. “There is no doubt that he has suffered from the lack of deference and respect shown by the younger and bolder princes who hold power today.”
The emir had his appendix removed in 2002, two years after he had a pacemaker inserted. In 2007, he underwent urinary tract surgery in the United States.
When the emir was absent in the past, the 83-year-old crown prince Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, 83, the emir’s half-brother, was appointed interim ruler according to the country’s constitutional law. Sheikh Nawaf is an elderly statesman who has held senior positions for decades, including the defense and interior portfolios. Now it is expected to happen.
“Kuwait’s leadership will prioritize stability both on the domestic front and in regional politics. The focus will be on the home front, ”Diwan said. “There will be a lot to manage at the national level, as parliamentary elections are expected in the next two months.”
Sheikh Sabah was born on June 16, 1929 [Andy Wong/Getty Images]
Sheikh Sabah had pushed for diplomacy to solve regional problems, such as the ongoing boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations.
The emir organized a summit in 2018 in which $ 30 billion was pledged to help rebuild Iraq after the war against the armed group ISIL (ISIS). Sheikh Sabah also played a role in raising aid funds for Syrians suffering as a result of that country’s civil war, organized international donor conferences in 2013 and 2014, and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars of Kuwaiti wealth.
One of his biggest challenges as a diplomat, however, came with the boycott of Qatar that began in 2017. Sheikh Sabah positioned himself as a mediator for the political dispute, which he warned at a White House appearance in 2017 could have led to an armed . conflict.
“Thank goodness now, the important thing is that we have stopped any military action,” Sheikh Sabah said.
Those mediation efforts have yet to resolve the crisis, but he succeeded in getting the Qatari prime minister to shake hands, on live television, with Saudi King Salman at a 2019 meeting in Mecca.
“We believe that wisdom will prevail,” Sheikh Sabah once said.
Sheikh Sabah’s death comes as the nation continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 103,981 people and caused 605 related deaths in the country of 4.1 million. His health ministry said that more than 95,500 people have recovered from COVID-19.
‘One learns from the past’
Sheikh Sabah’s life spanned two very different Kuwaitis. He was born on June 16, 1929, just as the country’s pearl diving industry was collapsing. Within the decade, Kuwait would go on an oil strike. Engineers would eventually confirm that the small country had the sixth largest oil reserves in the world.
He became Kuwait’s foreign minister in 1963 after holding various other government positions. He would remain in that position for four decades, making him one of the longest-serving foreign ministers in the world.
His country’s greatest crisis came in 1990 when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and occupied the nation for seven months. Fleeing with other Kuwaiti officials to neighboring Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Sabah collapsed and lost consciousness in a particularly stormy gathering of Arab leaders.
On February 24, 1991, US troops and their allies stormed Kuwait. It ended 100 hours later.
Even before the United States entered Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah and others began to suggest that a permanent American presence in the region could provide protection against Iraq and other countries.
“You learn from the past and you learn about it for the future,” Sheikh Sabah was reported to have said. “You have to consider arrangements that would not only make my country stable, but make the whole area stable.”
Today, Kuwait is home to some 13,500 American soldiers, many at Camp Arifjan, south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the advance command of the United States Army Headquarters.
Fall in oil prices
At the national level, Sheikh Sabah faced the challenge of falling oil prices in recent years. He dissolved Parliament several times as lawmakers continued to question designated government ministers, some of them members of his extended family.
When the 2011 Arab Spring swept through the region, Sheikh Sabah ordered grants of 1,000 dinars ($ 3,559) and free food stamps for every Kuwaiti. But at the time, allegations emerged that the government had bribed some legislators $ 350 million to sway their votes, along with rumors that they were involved in misappropriating state funds.
Amid strikes and clashes with the police, protesters briefly entered Parliament, waving flags and singing the country’s national anthem. However, Sheikh Sabah maintained power while allowing protests, a rarity among Gulf leaders.
“Sheikh Sabah proved to be a clever player in the internal politics of the ruling family,” Diwan said.
