that is almost 1400 hours g.m.t. 5 pm in kuwait city where the news is that the emir of kuwait. has died he was 91 an announcement made on state television just a short time ago shake. had been in power since 2006 more analysis shortly but 1st ramallah shell takes a look back at the emir of kuwait south in recent years. had become recognized and relied on as a regional mediator in 2017 when g.c.c. member states saudi arabia and the united arab emirates along with egypt accused qatar of supporting what they described as terrorism and imposed a land air and sea blockade it was him who intervened the kuwaiti amir attempted to broker a settlement urged for more dialogue between the gulf rivals and pushed for reforms to prevent future disputes. no question rather ignorant of we have discussed the

situation in the country for most of the unfortunate dispute between our brothers in the gulf region and our efforts to contain it she was born in kuwait city in 1926 the son of a comedy. who was in new york from 1944 to 1950 for 4 decades he held the post of foreign minister. in that time the oil rich country experienced huge economic growth but was also vulnerable to regional struggles although kuwait had supported the iraqi government during the nearly decade long war with iran in the 1980 s. . then president saddam hussein ordered his forces to invade kuwait in 1998. more than $1000.00 civilians were killed and hundreds went missing during the 7 months iraqi occupation which triggered the 1st gulf war that same year. after u.s. led air campaign forced iraqi troops out of kuwait so bob was closely involved in

rebuilding his country. and in 2003 he was appointed prime minister. at the time it was widely expected that his next role would be that of crown prince but in 2006 then. his half brother died a new enemy or saddam abdullah salim assad was sworn in almost immediately concerns were raised over the state of his health and sparked what's appeared to be a power struggle within the royal family after a tense 9 day reign the amir abdicated the cabinet swiftly nominated as the next leader ending what was seen as a major crisis. in 2015 a suicide bomb exploded in a packed mosque in the east of kuwait city killing 26 people. then you're immediately rushed to the mosque despite security warning staring his sympathy with the people. in the long life of some of the slovak he witnessed kuwait's so-called

golden years of economic growth and darker periods of conflict regional turmoil and political crises towards the end his well honed skills in diplomacy mediation were increasingly relied on by other gulf states a role here p.r. to welcome and one that's will be missed. and this is kuwait state television right now after the announcement made or just about 15 or 20 minutes ago that they're all of. the emir of kuwait has died at the age of $91.00 so we have correspondents all over the world on this story right now allan fish is in washington d.c. . in teheran starting with jamal shale who you just heard on that report there and just to build on what you said in that report there this is a man who was highly revered in his country obviously but very much in this part of

the world indeed and it was that kind of soft and reasonable diplomacy as it's been described described does which gave him that stature he tried to place quiet not just as a mediator in conflicts but also he pushed a very big humanitarian agenda so for example he was described by a former u.s. president jimmy carter as a world humanitarian leader in 2013 when the. uprising in syria turned into a civil war and so many people were killed he donated the largest amount of that year to syrian refugees some $300000000.20 he presided over an international conference conference for the syrian people as well as a couple years later are doing a similar one for iraq there was the summit i believe back in 2016 maybe

the africa world summit where a lot of money was dedicated to developing countries there are so there was maybe 2 things that underpinned his leadership one was contract resolution and mediation and the other was humanitarian work he was dubbed many things i mean the emir of peace he was dubbed i mean the diplomacy which was the veteran of diplomacy in. the wise man of the gulf as i said all of those things are things that he will be remembered by obviously had its challenges there was issues with corruption within the governments there was dissolution of parliaments and so forth but ultimately the fact that he presided over a country that ensured a large amount of democracy compared to other countries in the region you had a functioning assembly the fact that it has maintained that poor list think poor is in within its political parties but also sectarian or where you have for example

a sizeable shia community in all of those things are whole marks of a 10 year or a reign that ensured stability that's ensured that's coates was in a position not just true prosper economically as what was called those golden years but also to serve regionally as a stabilizing force in a very unstable region jamaal without going fully into the issue of secession because we did discuss that earlier and we will come back to it again can you just explain to our viewers what happens in the immediate aftermath of the death of the leader in kuwait so currently there is because he had named an heir apparent through was approved by the parliament you have should know. as the interim kind of ruler who is heading things however what will happen is the council of elders of the ministry will meet to discuss who they believe should be

the next amir traditionally it should be going to the other branch of the family so it shouldn't be the current. traditionally but that would be based on the fact that their pound should have been from the other branch which isn't the case once some sort of consensus is agreed us too. who that amir should be that or that ruler should be that name goes to the national assembly for it's to be approved theoretically should be a technicality however we saw in the case of this late amir his predecessor the it was the national assembly actually which voted for him not to assume power the the one before the one who's passed now because he had dementia and other issues and therefore only ruled for 6 days so theoretically it's not necessarily just a technicality that the parliament would rubber stamp whichever name comes from the council of elders obviously this all takes place bearing in mind that there has to

be those 3 days of national mourning there will be sizeable space and time given to mourn. like i said not just because he was the leader but because of who he was as a person and because of the level of reverence that he enjoyed and continue or enjoys now amongst so many people and therefore there will be whilst there will be power plays being made between different sections of the family and between different figures there will be a lot of sensitivity given to the space and time needed to mourn somebody with that much impact on the country ok thank you jim. following the developments here the death of the emir of kuwait we move to washington now here's alan fischer at the white house perhaps i suspect is not reaction yet as such from the u.s. alan but maybe you can take us through the importance of the the kuwaiti u.s. relationship under 6 of us. certainly nothing official from either the

state department or from the white house yet but the americans would have been fully aware just how critically ill of the emir was it was a u.s. air force plane a hospital plane that flew from kuwait to minnesota back in july for treatment no never been confirmed where he was being treated but of course minnesota is home to the mayo clinic one of the world's top hospitals and we believe he stayed there until his death that has still yet to be confirmed certainly that all the ship the united states has with kuwait is complicated on the ground in kuwait the united states is very popular which is largely on usual in the middle east given all the conflicts there over the last 20 years but of course it was the united states under the 1st president bush that rode to the aid of the kuwaitis after the iraqi invasion back in 1990 and they were seen very much as liberators when they removed

the iraqi forces after the 1st gulf war in 1991 more recently things have been kind of complicated the emir built close relationships with iran and also with china that certainly upset the white house and you remember it was just 10 days ago or so that in his absence the emir was presented with the legion of met it the 1st time he'd been presented since 1901 given all the at the sole discretion of the president and at that ceremony here at the white house donald trump said that he believed kuwait was going to be the next country to sign up to normalizing relationships with israel kuwait was very quick to see that that was not the case that aware of how in the national assembly there is a groundswell of opinion against that in kuwait itself there is a growing swell of opinion against that sort of there was no way the kuwaitis were going to be pushed into that by donald trump saying that this was the. he said that

was perhaps a problem for the white house that they felt that the kuwaiti emir was getting too close to iran didn't speak against sanctions when the united states pulled out from the nuclear deal and also was building relationships with china which the some in the white house felt was disloyal to the united states given all that the u.s. had done for kuwait back in 1991 so it wasn't a simple yes we love the united states this was very much a complicated relationship and it will be interesting to see who succeeds the emir to see exactly where the leadership goes next thanks eleanor leave you there for now because you brought up the issue of iran and we have. to take us through that allan telling us there that this was a complicated relationship kuwait had with the u.s. and part of that was to do with iran. yes and

similarly iran's relationship with quaked was very complicated and it's indicative of the situation in the middle east between the g.c.c. and iran along with the united states and those sanctions very much try to play a mediating role but as i said the situation was complicated going back to the iran iraq war kuwait was a country that supported saddam hussein in fact giving the use of. iraq's forces to 3 kuwaiti islands to allow those forces to stage attacks against iran and then president and the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini warned that if they continued to help saddam hussein kuwait would also become a target but after saddam hussein's forces occupied kuwait iran was one of the 1st countries to contend that they welcomed the refugees as well as sending engineers to help protect some of those blazes that those oil fields that saddam hussein's forces had left behind but to modern times they have has been an increase of trade

between the 2 countries the foreign minister foreign ministers constantly talk to each other and visit try to create that dialogue but the emir himself visited iran back in 2014 where he met with president hassan rouhani and also the supreme leader so many so iran will be looking at kuwait very closely to see what happens next because 30 percent of the population in kuwait are. historically of iranian origin so they have been close ties between the 2 countries but also some tensions back in 2011 kuwait accused iran's. oil could force that's the organization that deals with operations outside of iran for carrying out a verse of activity inside quatre and they expelled some diplomats and in $21723.00 kuwaitis were convicted of spying for has been law and iran and iran's

ambassador was expelled so there have been some tensions iran again is looking to create to see what happens next and how that relationship moves forward. thank you for that perspective all of this breaking news this hour quarter past the hour on al-jazeera the news out of kuwait is that the emir of kuwait. has died at the age of 91 this was the announcement made on television about half an hour ago now maybe a little bit on that very short statement before that we had seen. a graphic on screen with money in the koran being recited which is usually a sign of major news in this announcement that the emir of kuwait and. at the age of 91 we're going to speak to. a professor of political sociology here in doha qatar university and i will get to the the qatar gulf side

of things in a moment magid let's start with just your. yes. just thinking that his picture has frozen isn't it imagine i don't know if you can hear me but your pictures for us and we'll come back to you shortly here's the announcement as it was made on kuwaiti television a short time ago. i am merely it with great sadness in heavy hearts the world court announced to the kuwaiti people and into the arab and muslim peoples the passing away of the late. praying to god to accept the later me. and accept him into his paradise may god help us and to god we shall all return. also with us mon bashara our senior political analyst is joining us on skype from paris. now and let's start with the man himself the emir since 2006 so quite recent but his influence goes a lot further than that further back than that. yes i actually remember. when there

me it was beating president obama one point people were on the bomb when it came to mind is the fact that in fact his success is proof there's little and then i think experience was longer than obama's age when he stuck at this career in politics before obama was born so you can imagine this man damian. having had. discussions and negotiations and so on support so many games of the world where he was always sort of this senior seasonal leadership and that sense that depth of experience of course. you know with some of it being quite dramatic like the vision or witness on as giving him i think a rather sober perspective on the region and the world. and i think

that's what will inspire or. that sense of. you know care for. the protest. i would even say cool approach to. conflicts and i think in that sense also his reaction to the last one the most. 'd dramatic crisis in the gulf was approved. how this long experience has helped him in fact become more of a he and. other. but when they can be a brief moment in these times when there is concerns about succession about stability about what happens next now jamal was telling us earlier about there is a succession plan in place but you are also saying that stability is a whole mark of kuwait in the 1st place the fact that yes it has a royal family and the leader of that family has not died but there is also a parliamentary body in kuwait. yes but i think 2006 was

a bit of an exception with a 6 work stoppage not the weather but an exception because u.s. would be incapable of anything and hence the way the parliament there being basically put the done or the comedy and. 14 years later that i think we are a whole other world and obama conferenced is not young enough some. i think he's learned experience. within the country you know serving. the department also for a person who gives him. to the bit of the work and then i think probably the. i won't say the most important question but nor the support that is the question we wish. prince and i think that would be moving forward because as we said many of the brothers are quite in their late age and it could be interesting to see if

current is ready to move by the younger generation or not and the future and if this would be a transitional period to work something more because the whole remember this was to wait one or other countries in the past with a sense of how quick it got into the international markets and international diplomacy and so on so for having a very strong national educate mass. it could be interesting if they would now go back on track and become more on guard and the way they are going to be with the economy because as we are now adults economies have suffered a lot because of the or the wars because of that 'd and then make also 'd for so great like others you know is facing a good number of difficulties because of budget deficits also for even straight think was recently. brought down by the likes of woodies has also busy

but. just went on but i think i think the biggest of it the only family stability within the couple is gone but also looking forward to build on the late nears staple efforts to stabilize the country and the economy in order to take it to the next. ma one bashara senior political analyst thank you for that just now i want to broaden out one of the points that marwan was starting to make there about the gulf crisis with much at all i'm sorry professor of political sociology at kut a university who can hopefully hear me this time yes i can hear back solent ok you and i have spoken about the gulf crisis for and the cottage blockade for many years now porton was the late in the mediation process obviously there mediated since the beginning because it was timeless and all that

but even all people in the gulf remember that his visit is shuttle visit and the beginning of the crisis between don't have and i will be and we have and i think this shuttle diplomacy which he engaged in at the beginning of the crisis as he himself said and a press conference with the president down trump has at least. helped us steve away from their possibility of military action against that and for that i'm sure that i speak for all of the you that people in the gulf that we want to thank will probably time this and it's all in in this crisis however we all remember his highness not only probably the scene of that gov crisis but as a model as a figure of jesus he politics since inception tell us about kuwait then itself and how they will when so how they will react to this news obviously we know how they will react but the idea of change the idea of secession the idea of a new era. well we have to remember that the late to me or his highness

was part of the politics since at least the sixty's and as the longest standing foreign minister and its history he has his harness shaped kuwaiti foreign policy for a long time and was able to maintain kuwaiti consensus during the time when he was immediately or camembert the host of power after the abdication of the at the time had apparent and then very shortly i mean of kuwait to satisfy by so forth kuwaitis and especially the new generations the only figurehead they know of the status yes by himself and he was an outstanding figure in the means that he it was difficult to see any other figures that out him or any other influential politicians when he was there he was able to maintain a very clear policy and not only internally but externally great has maintained its positions on foreign policy since the ninety's and today steadfastly gotten less of

that evidence around in the arab spring probably out of print with the counting of allusion and even just weeks back when talks started normalization is a guy who was able to keep you know the stability of the public policy to a 2 words the and the principal policy towards the palestinian issue and within kuwait i believe that these will be the big shoes to fill and then your political class if you will in kuwait will need to go with this last one and to cope with their boat that was left by the budget politically speaking and socially speaking and that the new leadership in kuwait under his highness you know what is certainly going to be establish its existence as. a political class and we are quite sure that it will be able to weather the storm and certainly come out as strong as it was before and i believe also that just about was able to build a national consensus out of his cell. but not only himself but also on the policies

which he represented the policy of wisdom where there was a lack of in indonesia in the policy of stability where there are still millions in the agent so he will be missed certainly not only in kuwait you know they don't measure the unsorry university thank you for joining us and if you are just joining us on al-jazeera. well it's about 5 25 pm in kuwait city at the moment 1425 g.m.t. the news out of kuwait is that the emir of kuwait shakes of our has passed away at the age of 91 the announcement made on state television a little under an hour ago way on the line with us now director of the gulf studies center also a university. good to talk to you as well maybe we can build on what we were talking about with with majid i'm sorry your colleague there who was talking about

the the new a political class in kuwait and not just in kuwait in the gulf we've seen a lot of younger leaders come in in the last let's say decade. and in kuwait's case the crown prince the appointed crown prince is actually also rather an old man as well so interesting to see what path kuwait takes from here. thank you come on no doubt this is sort of the moment to the gulf. 1 and to the kuwaitis 1 this is the leader 1 will experience to lead it in politics in knows. new video well you know 1 4 what was happening in the gulf he was able to protect kuwait in a very critical time 4 no doubt know he would be best in the country in the gulf. i think it's all the that this is a very critical time for the gulf that is the person who led the mediation on the major crisis in the gulf in the last 20 years and he was always ahead of

maintaining the ability and pushing back any possibility to have a confrontation and the gulf so that is that's a something to be remembered i think this fingerprint was was be kept them in mind . and look at the future of kuwait 2 and the the new leadership of course we know that you know she has no wife is beautiful denies khana presence and is expected to be called by the parliament in kuwait as a new i mean coding to the. basically the. i would say the. main difference for that which is basically the. constitution and i think i do expect that. i'd be sort of. 5 political transition in kuwait having said that 2 we should remember that you know the impact of the kind of

a crisis the impact of covered 19 in kuwait to a city if we knew how much kuwait suffered a lot on the big at the beginning of this climate but the make in a march back to march and. i think it will have to the economy because of this i think if you add to this you know. 5 i would say the level of uncertainty politically now at least with which will last for a while even with this you know clear political transition i think they would be sort of concerned on how things would be moving and was the diction kuwait's was. basically the speculation that there would be sort of continuities this is the man who. was basically the picture of the i've been since 960 s. so basically he's he's a person who puts his fingerprints a lot of things in kuwait and it's it's hard to just move without considering what

he has left so of course you know the nature of politics in the gulf. recent years it becomes very complicated and i think this also may push toward. peaceful political it sounds issuing to cool down this heat which basically caused by the gulf a crisis either side the crisis is in the region and in the white middle east was there any sign any indication that checked and. what a kuwaiti family were making any progress with regard to the gulf crisis with the blockade on gaza. it was obviously they did a lot of you know they've put a lot of effort. 3 goes into the you know the information at least. that there was there was a rejection from. least 2 of them look at countries that were not showing the

flexibility on to them. basically. i think maybe just because. the whole crisis started the process to continue rather than to resolve but quite kept. them and continued its force including a communication and even after you know some attacks from. kuwait kuwait continued to lead that mediation and collaborate with the united states to have the efforts in this in days actually and i think. maybe the 1st basically test for the newly the new leadership is to see whether they will continue in that efforts on this you know with the same determination. that. previous did or actually may you know. basically. i would

say choice. is from ca to university regular contributor with us here at al-jazeera thank you for your time and your thoughts there it is half past the hour on al-jazeera 1430 g.m.t. 5 30 pm in kuwait the breaking news this hour is the death of the emir of kuwait. died at the age of 91 an announcement made very brief announcement on state television just a short time ago do we have that or are we let's have a look at that announcement. had new on the lamb meeting with great sadness in heavy hearts the world court announces the kuwaiti people and to the arab and muslim peoples the passing away of the lights of the middle job of praying to god to accept the lie to me.