Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah


Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah GCB is the Emir of Kuwait and the Commander of the Kuwait Military Forces. He was sworn in on 29 January 2006 after confirmation by the National Assembly. He is the fourth son of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Early life and early career

Al-Sabah was born on 16 June 1929. He received primary education at Al Mubarakya School in the 1930s and completed his education under tutors. He is the half-brother of the previous Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who appointed Sabah as Prime Minister in July 2003, replacing the Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah. His brother was killed in the deliberate crash of Royal Air Maroc Flight 630.
Before being Emir of Kuwait, Sabah was the Foreign Minister of Kuwait from 1963 to 1991 and from 1992 to 2003. As Foreign Minister, Sabah restored Kuwaiti international relations after the Persian Gulf War. He was also First Deputy Prime Minister while serving as Foreign Minister.

Emir

Succession

On 15 January 2006, the Emir, Sheikh Jaber, died, making Sheikh Saad, Crown Prince of Kuwait, the new Emir. With Saad's accession, Sabah was likely to become the new Crown Prince, retaining his function of Prime Minister. But the Constitution requires that the Emir be sworn in before Parliament, and the oath of office is complex. Soon, word began to spread that Saad was unable to take the oath in full. Some reports suggested that he suffered from Alzheimer's disease or some other debilitating disease; it was generally agreed that he was unable to speak, at least at any length. After a power struggle within the ruling family, Saad agreed to abdicate as Emir of Kuwait on 23 January 2006 due to his illness. The ruling family then conferred and Sabah became the new Emir. On 24 January 2006, the National Assembly of Kuwait voted Saad out of office, moments before an official letter of abdication was received. The Kuwaiti Cabinet nominated Sabah as Emir. He was sworn in on 29 January 2006 with the National Assembly's approval, ending that crisis.

Dissolution of the National Assembly

Sabah dissolved the National Assembly on 19 March 2008 and called for early elections on 17 May 2008, after the cabinet resigned in the week of 17 March 2008 following a power struggle with the government.
A struggle broke out between the government and parliament in 2012; he consequently dissolved the parliament.

Foreign relations

Sabah is a respected regional and international mediator due in part to his place in the Gulf Cooperation Council's leadership order and his 40 years of service as Foreign Minister and Prime Minister. Under his leadership, Kuwait has acted as a go-between for Pakistan and Bangladesh, Turkey and Bulgaria, Palestine and Jordan, factions in the civil war in Lebanon, the Gulf States and Iran. In 2016 Sabah hosted several UN-sponsored meetings of leaders from the warring factions in the Yemeni Civil War.
Sabah quickly established Kuwait as the key mediator in the Qatar diplomatic crisis, meeting with Saudi and Emirati officials on 6–7 June before leaving for Doha to discuss the rift with Qatari leaders. His ongoing efforts have been publicly supported by Qatar and other interested parties from the region as well as the US, UK, France and Germany. At the beginning of September 2017, Sabah discussed the situation with top officials in Washington, including President Donald Trump, who 'hailed his efforts' to mediate and 'applauded Kuwait’s “critical contributions to regional stability”'. There were some questions from the boycotting countries about any preconditions. French President Emmanuel Macron stated French support for Sabah's mediation efforts after a meeting in Paris on 15 September 2017, reiterating June 2017 statements of support for the initiative.
Trump and Sabah had a third meeting at the White House on September 5, 2018.

Humanitarianism

Former President Jimmy Carter has called Sabah a "global humanitarian leader", saying, "His support of disaster relief, peace efforts and advancing public health are an inspiration. Other world leaders can learn from the wise example set by my friend, His Highness the Emir."
According to the 2014 Middle East Coutts Report, Sabah provided the largest individual donation in 2013 among GCC members in support of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, $300 million. Also in 2014, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cited Sabah as a humanitarian leader globally and presented him with a Humanitarian Award. Ban said, "It gives me great pleasure and honour to be here today to recognize the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait. This is a great humanitarian day. We are sitting together with a great humanitarian leader of our world".
In 2015, Sabah pledged $500 million toward easing the Syrian humanitarian crisis at the UN Summit convened in Kuwait.
In August 2017, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed gratitude for Kuwait's leadership in humanitarian action, as well as the “dialogue and promotion of understanding Kuwait has shown in relation to all conflicts in the region," adding, "But it's not only the humanitarian leadership of Kuwait, it's the wisdom, the dialogue, the promotion of understanding that Kuwait has shown in relation to all conflicts in the region. Kuwait has no agenda. The agenda of Kuwait is peace; is understanding.” Guterres further noted the positive role Sabah played in the current GCC crisis and recalled that when he was High Commissioner for Refugees Sabah presided over the three conferences to mobilize the international community to support the Syrian people.

Human rights violations

Al-Sabah has jailed several members of parliament for criticizing him publicly.

Other positions held

Titles