The body of the late Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday, September 30 from the United States, Kuwait TV showed.
His body was transported on a royal plane and landed at the Kuwait International Airport where security forces and several officials were awaiting his arrival, including Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
His body, which was covered with the flag of Kuwait, was carried out of the plane by Sheikh Nawaf and several other officials and security forces.
Several roads have been closed to make way for the vehicles that carried the late Emir’s body to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque
where his relatives offered their prayers.
His body was then transported to the Sulaibikhat Cemetery. The burial ceremony will only be open to Sheikh Sabah’s relatives on Wednesday, but the public can visit the late Emir’s grave starting from Thursday.
Mosques across Kuwait will hold open Magrhib or evening prayers for the Sheikh.
Sheikh Sabah had traveled to the US in July to receive medical treatment after undergoing a surgery in Kuwait that same month.
The Amiri Diwan announced the late Emir’s death on Tuesday, adding that the then-Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf will succeed him.
Sheikh Nawaf took his constitutional oath before the National Assembly on Wednesday morning, making him the official Emir of Kuwait.
Under Kuwait’s constitution, each new crown prince must be approved by a majority in the country’s National Assembly.
As dictated by the Kuwaiti Constitution of 1962 that was reinstated in 1992, the succession of the Emir and Crown Prince positions are limited to the descendants of Mubarak al-Sabah, which has come to be known as the “Mubarak Succession.”
Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah is expected to officially assume power on Wednesday after the death of his half-brother Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, according to an announcement from Kuwait’s National Assembly.
