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Kuwait’s emir, former defence minister Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dies at 86
- He was Kuwait’s emir for just three years but spent decades in top posts through the House of Sabah’s tumultuous rule of the oil-rich state
- Kuwait’s crown prince, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 83, was named the new emir after the death on Saturday of his predecessor
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Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah served as Kuwait’s emir for just three years but spent decades in top posts through the House of Sabah’s tumultuous rule of the oil-rich state.
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Sheikh Nawaf, who died on Saturday aged 86, was defence minister when Iraq invaded in 1990, setting off a war that drew in armies from around the world to end the occupation.
He was interior minister when Kuwaiti security forces battled Islamist militants in January 2005.
Despite the episodes that have deeply marked Kuwait’s history, Sheikh Nawaf’s low-key style never saw him fall out of favour.
He was named crown prince in 2006 by his half-brother Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and took over as emir when he died in September 2020 at the age of 91.
Kuwait’s crown prince, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 83, was named the oil-rich country’s new emir after the death on Saturday of his predecessor Sheikh Nawaf, state television reported.
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