Kuwait News: The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, died on Saturday. He was 86 and had been in power for the past three years.

Kuwait state television broke into programming with Quranic verses just before a somber official made the announcement.

In November, Sheikh Nawaf was admitted to the hospital due to an emergency health problem. He was later declared to be in stable condition. Sheikh Nawaf was named crown prince in 2006 by his half-brother Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and took over as emir when Sheikh Sabah died in September 2020 at the age of 91.

He had to steer the economy through a crisis caused by a fall in oil prices in 2020. Born in 1937, Sheikh Nawaf was the fifth son of Kuwait’s late ruler Sheikh Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah who ruled from 1921 to 1950.

Kuwait’s crown prince, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was named the country’s new emir after the death of his predecessor Sheikh Nawaf.