November 3, 2024

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Kuwait’s key reformer, son of late emir, dies at 72

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait’s Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Sabah, the eldest son of the late emir, who emerged as an influential reformer in the oil-abundant Gulf sheikhdom, died on Sunday, the country’s condition-operate information company described. He was 72.

Sheikh Nasser, who held many federal government posts over the decades like minister of protection and deputy prime minister, experienced been viewed as a prime contender for crown prince pursuing the dying in September of his father, the 91-12 months-previous Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.

Even though he drew common help for his bold mega-initiatives and anti-corruption attempts, he was passed about for his uncle, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, a additional cautious selection of heir clear at a turbulent time for Kuwait’s politics and the wider region.

The KUNA point out-run information agency did not specify how Sheikh Nasser died, but he was identified to be in fragile wellbeing following owning a lung tumor eliminated two several years back.


In a country that depends on oil for some 90% of its revenues, Sheikh Nasser championed bold programs to diversify Kuwait’s economic climate by setting up up a business enterprise hub with a free of charge zone and deep sea port in the country’s north. But with several in Kuwait’s parliament committed to the standing quo, his concepts regularly ran aground even as fears mounted that the country was slipping behind its much more powerful and improved-designed neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Previous 12 months, Sheikh Nasser’s general public allegations of authorities corruption vaulted him into the nationwide political scene, as he pressed for investigations into the suspected embezzlement of hundreds of tens of millions of pounds from a navy fund.

His efforts backfired when his father, the emir, ousted him from governing administration, but he retained a significant following and continued to make public statements about the need to fight corruption equally in Kuwait’s sprawling forms and his own ruling relatives.