Kuwait’s 91-year-old ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will travel to the United States to complete medical treatment a few days after he underwent successful surgery, his office announced Wednesday.
“The emir will depart the country at dawn on Thursday to the United States based on the advice of his medical team to complete treatment following the successful surgery,” the emir’s court said in a statement cited by state news agency KUNA.
The statement did not reveal the nature of his illness, the type of surgery he had undergone in Kuwait, or what treatment was planned in the US.
Sheikh Sabah, who has ruled the oil-rich Gulf state since 2006, was hospitalised on Saturday for medical tests.
In September 2019, he underwent medical tests shortly after arriving in the United States, leading to a meeting with President Donald Trump being called off.
The emir had his appendix removed in 2002, two years after having a pacemaker fitted. In 2007, he underwent urinary tract surgery in the United States.
Under Kuwaiti law, when the emir is absent, crown prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 83, the emir’s half-brother, is appointed as acting ruler.
Sheikh Nawaf is an elder statesman who has held high office for decades, including the defence and interior portfolios.
Sheikh Sabah argued last year for de-escalation in the Gulf as tensions surged between the US and its arch-foe Iran.
He is widely regarded as the architect of modern Kuwait’s foreign policy.
( AFP/FRANCE24)
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