Kuwait emir names brother as crown prince

KUWAIT - Kuwait's new Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah today appointed his brother Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah as the new crown prince and heir of the US-allied Gulf Arab oil producer.

State news agency KUNA and state television said Sheikh Sabah also appointed a nephew, Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a minister in charge of the emiri diwan (royal court), as the new prime minister.

The latest move effectively does away with a long-held political tradition that the position of the emir and other top posts should rotate between the family's two wings. Sheikh Sabah, Sheikh Nawaf and Sheikh Nasser are all members of the Jaber clan of the Sabah dynasty.

"We have issued a decree nominating His Highness Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah to assume the post of crown prince," Sheikh Sabah said in a decree read on state television.

Nawaf, 69, had been acting prime minister since the former premier Sheikh Sabah was named emir late last month following the removal by parliament of ailing Emir Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah, who hails from the Salem branch.

Nawaf was the outgoing interior minister and first deputy prime minister in the government headed by Sheikh Sabah until he took over last month.

Kuwait is the first Gulf Arab state with an elected parliament that has a say in policy. But the ruling dynasty remains in control and in the previous government held key cabinet portfolios like foreign affairs, interior, defence and energy plus the three top posts.

The nomination of Sheikh Sabah as emir ended the political uncertainty which had gripped Kuwait since Sheikh Saad, who is 76 and incapacitated by illness, became emir on Jan. 15 after the death of his cousin Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Sheikh Sabah, 77, is expected to maintain Kuwait's oil policy and the pro-Western stance of the country which holds about 10 per cent of the world's crude reserves.

- REUTERS