NY Times
CAIRO, Jan. 16 - Hours after Kuwait's longtime ruler died today, officials announced that the crown prince had been elevated to the post of emir, heading off a short-term crisis but raising longer-term questions about leadership of the country, one of the world's most oil-rich.
Longtime Emir of Kuwait Dies at 79 (January 15, 2006) Thousands of people turned out to mourn the death of the emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who ruled for 28 years. The tremendous funeral procession stretched far behind the flag-draped body as it was carried to a final, unmarked grave. Sheik Jaber, thought to be 79, died after a long illness.
Kuwait announced a 40-day period of mourning, and government offices will close for three days. Flags were lowered to half-staff.
But the government also moved quickly to end any speculation about the line of succession, following the constitutional instruction to make the crown prince, Sheik Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, the next emir. The new emir, however, is about 75 years old, in ill health and by many accounts physically incapable of governing. He would be expected to nominate the next crown prince - but the decision will, instead, most likely be made by Kuwait's inner circle, primarily members of the ruling family, diplomats and political analysts said.
Most political analysts said that they expected the prime minister, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, who has run the day-to-day affairs of the country since 2003, after Sheik Saad no longer could, to be named the next crown prince. No one is expecting a crisis, and government officials also said there would be no change in Kuwait's oil policy.
But the change in leadership could exacerbate tensions between two branches of the ruling family that share power and possibly aggravate a generational split between elder family members and the younger princes, who want to ascend in power, political analysts said. That leaves uncertainty over the future leadership of a country that controls one-tenth of the world's known oil reserves and is a crucial Persian Gulf ally of the United States.
"It is going to be a difficult situation," said Ghanim al-Najjar, a political science professor at Kuwait University. "There is no consensus on anything."
The potential problems began to emerge in public last year, when a senior member of the ruling family expressed concern that the emir and the crown prince were both ill- raising speculation that the prime minister would leapfrog over the crown prince. The prime minister, who is fitted with a pacemaker, insisted that would not occur.
Now, political analysts said, while he is expected to become the next in line, there is no certainty he will also retain the post of prime minister. That could lead to a lot of jockeying for power within the ruling elite.
While the political handicapping had already begun, the attention of most Kuwaitis today was mostly focused on the funeral for the emir, who led them through the turbulent years of the Iran-Iraq war, the occupation of their country by Iraq, and through the general turmoil that continues to buffet the region.
Following afternoon prayer today, a white van carrying the body of the emir cut through dense masses of weeping Kuwaitis waiting at the Sulaibikhat Cemetery, the largest public Sunni Muslim cemetery in Kuwait. The security officers held hands forming a human wall and struggled to keep the mourners from approaching the emir's body, which was wrapped in a Kuwaiti flag and placed in an open box.
Waves of men wearing the traditional checkered red-and-white and plain-white Arab head coverings rushed to participate in carrying the coffin on their shoulders. Others stretched their hands up high to take pictures of the coffin with their cellphone cameras.
Many women standing at the back of the cemetery and dressed in black broke down in tears. Some of them carried photos of the late emir, and some were accompanied by young children.
As Kuwaiti Satellite Television broadcast the funeral procession, the announcers heaped praise on the emir. "Under his leadership, Kuwait went from being small" to a modern country, one announcer said.
Another said, repeating lines from a traditional Arab eulogy, "Our hearts are grieving, our eyes are weeping for your departure, our Prince Jaber."