Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (الشيخ صباح الأحمد الجابر الصباح; 16 June 1929 – 29 September 2020) was the Emir of Kuwait from 24 January 2006 until his death in 2020.

He was the fourth son of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Al-Sabah was born on 16 June 1929.

He received his primary education at Al Mubarakya School in the 1930s and completed his education under tutors.

Sabah is credited with playing a role in the creation of the Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine, or Fatah, in October 1959 in Kuwait City.

Before becoming Emir of Kuwait, Sabah was the foreign minister from 1963 to 2003, making him the longest-serving foreign minister in the world at the time of leaving office, and the second longest-serving so far.

As foreign minister, Sabah restored Kuwaiti international relations after the Gulf War.

He was also first deputy prime minister while serving as foreign minister.

Several of the early leaders of Fatah, and later the Palestine Liberation Organization, also formed in Kuwait in 1964, were close to Sabah, like Khaled al-Hassan.

Al-Ghanim recalls, The late Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, refused, on the last days of his life, to attend the normalizing Bahrain Economic Conference, which was held in Manama, despite the enormous pressure he was subjected to from parties that Al-Ghanim didn't name.

Sabah in an angry mood called Al-Ghanim and said "Look my son, I am old now and I don't want to meet my Lord having shaken hands with Zionists, and now terrible pressure is being exerted on us."

The Emir later asked him calmly to address Kuwait's non-participation from the conference.

He was acting minister of finance from 1965 to 1967.

His cousin was killed when Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 was intentionally crashed by its pilot in 1994.

He was the half-brother of the previous Emir of Kuwait, 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.

He was prime minister and de facto ruler from 2003 to 2006, due to Jaber III's ill health.

On 15 January 2006, Emir Jaber died, making Sheikh Saad, his Crown Prince and a member of the Salim branch of the ruling family, the new Emir.

With Saad's accession, Sabah was likely to become the new Crown Prince, retaining his function of Prime Minister.

Saad was ill with a form of dementia, 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 any length.

As there was concern Saad would not be able to take the constitutionally required oath of office, the Speaker of the National Assembly Jassem Al-Kharafi coordinated with members of the National Assembly on a transfer of power to the Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad.

After a power struggle within the ruling family, Saad agreed to abdicate as Emir of Kuwait on 23 January 2006 due to 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 Cabinet of Kuwait nominated Sabah as Emir.

He was sworn in on 29 January 2006 with the National Assembly's approval, ending that crisis.

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 dissolved the parliament.

Sabah was a 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 acted as a go-between for Pakistan and Bangladesh, Turkey and Bulgaria, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, factions in the civil war in Lebanon, and the Gulf States and Iran.

In March 2016, Sabah suspended the National Assembly to keep those in opposition from questioning the Kuwaiti prime minister over the government's actions.

In 2016 Sabah hosted several United Nations sponsored meetings of leaders from the warring factions in the Yemeni Civil War.

Sabah established Kuwait as the key mediator in the Qatar diplomatic crisis that began in 2017, meeting with Saudi and Emirati officials before leaving for Doha to discuss the rift with Qatari leaders.

His ongoing efforts were publicly supported by Qatar and other interested parties from the region as well as the U.S., UK, France, and Germany.

At the beginning of September 2017, Sabah discussed the situation with top officials in Washington, D.C., including U.S. 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 statements of support for the initiative.

Trump and Sabah had a third meeting at the White House on 5 September 2018.

It's noteworthy that the normalization conference hosted by Manama on May 25, 2019, was considered the economic part of the "Deal of the Century", which included depriving Palestinians of their rights to their land, canceling their right of return, and making Al-Quds the eternal capital of Israel.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter 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."