by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020
Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah reigned as the 13th Ruler and 3rd Emir of Kuwait from 1977 – 2006. He was Emir of Kuwait during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and the subsequent Persian Gulf War. Originally a sheikhdom ruled by local sheikhs, Kuwait became a British Protectorate in 1899. The sheikhs still had power during the British Protectorate. Kuwait was granted independence in 1961 and Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, 11th Ruler of Kuwait became the first Emir of Kuwait. The rulers of Kuwait belong to the House of Al-Sabah.
The Emir of Kuwait is nominated by a family council headed by prominent members of the family. The Crown Prince of Kuwait is also nominated by the family council and must be a senior member of the House of Al-Sabah. Both the Emir and the Crown Prince must be approved by the Kuwaiti parliament.
Born on June 29, 1926, in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Jaber III was the son of Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 10th ruler of Kuwait and Sheikha Bibi Al-Salem Al-Sabah, daughter of the 9th ruler of Kuwait, Salem Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. Jaber’s father had ten wives and 24 children.
Jaber had one full-sibling, a sister Sheikha Badriya Al-Ahmad. His prominent half-siblings include:
Jaber’s father Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had a prominent role in his upbringing. Ahmad was open-minded and was interested in culture and education. Jaber was educated at the Al-Mubarakiya School which was established in 1911 as one of Kuwait’s first modern educational institutions, and the Ahmadiyya School, established in 1921, another of Kuwait’s first modern educational institutions. He also received private instruction in religion, Arabic language and literature, the English language, and the sciences. After he completed his education, Jaber’s father allowed him to travel so he could learn about the culture and conditions of other people. The first of Jaber’s 51 children (he had 22 sons and 29 daughters) was born in 1945 and so he married the first of his 20 wives sometime in the early 1940s. For information on his family, see Royal Ark: Kuwait – Al-Sabah Genealogy.
After the death of Jaber’s father Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 1950, two sons of Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, 9th Ruler of Kuwait were chosen by the family council to be Ruler of Kuwait: Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah (reigned 1950 – 1965) and Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah (reigned 1965 – 1977). During this time period, a new constitution was enacted and Kuwait gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Jaber served as Minister of Finance from 1959 – 1965 and as Prime Minister of Kuwait from 1965 – 1978. On May 31, 1966, the family council appointed Jaber Heir Apparent with the title of Crown Prince.
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Jaber III, Emir of Kuwait (second from the left) and Queen Elizabeth II watch a display of folk dancing during the Queen’s state visit to Kuwait on February 13, 1979
Upon the death of Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah on December 31, 1977, Jaber became the 13th Ruler and 3rd Emir of Kuwait. Unlike many other rulers in the Middle East, Emir Jaber stood out for his modest style. He declined to put his own image on the nation’s currency and he lived in what Kuwaitis considered a relatively simple home. The Kuwaiti people often referred to him as Baba Jaber or Father Jaber. On February 16, 1978, the family council named Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, eldest son of Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, 11th Ruler and First Emir of Kuwait (reigned 1950 – 1965) as the Crown Prince of Kuwait.
From 1980 – 1988, Kuwait found itself geographically in the middle of the Iran- Iraq War. Among the many security threats during that time period was an assassination attempt. On May 25, 1985, a car bomb was detonated by remote control as Jaber’s motorcade was traveling to his office at Seif Palace in Kuwait City. Three people were killed but Jaber was only showered with broken glass and suffered minor cuts and bruises.
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Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait speaks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House on September 28, 1990, after the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq
On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation. Within hours of the invasion, Jaber and his government went to Saudi Arabia where they ran the Kuwaiti government from a hotel in Ta’if, Saudi Arabia. When the Gulf War ended in February 1991, Jaber remained in Saudi Arabia while declaring three months of martial law to ensure the safety of the people and to ensure that there were no Iraqis still in Kuwait who may attempt once again to overthrow the government. Jaber and his government returned to Kuwait on March 15, 1991. The Kuwaiti people remember Emir Jaber as the man who rebuilt their county after American-led forces drove Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait in 1991.
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Jaber III, Emir of Kuwait, prays as he disembarks his plane March 15, 1991, upon his arrival in Kuwait after his in exile in Saudi Arabia during the Iraqi occupation of his country
Jaber suffered from some health problems in his last years, and he traveled outside Kuwait to receive treatment a number of times, including in September 2001, when he suffered a stroke and went to the United Kingdom for treatment. On January 15, 2006, Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 3rd Emir of Kuwait, aged 79, died from a cerebral hemorrhage at Dasman Palace in Kuwait City, Kuwait. His funeral and burial were attended by thousands of Kuwaitis and a number of Arab heads of state including King Abdullah II of Jordan. Wrapped in a Kuwaiti flag, Jaber’s body was buried in a simple, sand grave bordered with white stones at the Al Sulaibikhat Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Kuwait.
Crown Prince Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah did succeed Jaber as the 14th Ruler and the 4th Emir of Kuwait. However, after a nine-day reign, Saad, who suffered from colon cancer, abdicated. On January 24, 2006, the Kuwaiti parliament voted Saad out of office, moments before an official letter of abdication was received. The Kuwait Cabinet nominated Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah bin Ahmad Al-Sabah to take over as Emir as expected.
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Works Cited
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- Nytimes.com. 2006. Sheik Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, The Leader Of Kuwait For 28 Years, Is Dead At 79. [online] Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/world/middleeast/sheik-jaber-alahmad-alsabah-the-leader-of-kuwait-for-28.html> [Accessed 21 August 2020].
- Reuters Archive Licensing. 2006. Thousands Of Kuwaitis Attend The Funeral Of Their Emir, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. [online] Available at: <https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/351092> [Accessed 21 August 2020].
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