Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has become Kuwait’s new emir following the death on Tuesday of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who, at 91, had been in poor health. Nawaf’s ascension to the throne was announced on Tuesday night by Interior Minister Anas Khalid al-Saleh during a live address carried on state television; he was sworn in on Wednesday. The new emir had been crown prince since 2006, when Sabah became emir. He was Kuwait’s defense minister in 1990 during the invasion by Iraq, which precipitated the first Gulf War the following January. At 83, Nawaf is considered part of the “old guard” in the region, which has a vanguard of young crown-princes waiting in the wings with new approaches to leadership. Therefore, observers say that what is critical right now is the crown prince who will be installed in his place. “There is jockeying for position for that particular role,” Gulf analyst Elana DeLozier, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The Media Line [1],” so there will start to be questions about who is going to be the first leader of Kuwait who is from the new generation.”
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