al-Ahmad al-Sabah

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah died on Saturday, aged 86, according to the royal court, after a three-year reign as his half brother Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber takes over as Kuwait's new ruler.

A Saudi-led bloc of countries hostile to Qatar on Sept. 8 challenged statements by the Kuwaiti emir, denying his mediation has seen progress in finding a solution to the Gulf dispute.

Saudi Arabia as well as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held talks with top officials in Kuwait on July 16 in a bid to bolster the emirate's attempts to mediate in the Gulf crisis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 8 said he aimed to boost economic and military ties with Arab Gulf states, as talks on a free trade zone deal pushed ahead.

Erdoğan, who is expected in Kuwait on May 9, said Ankara was involved in "high level strategic dialogue" with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the state-run KUNA news agency reported.

Opposition candidates are estimated to have won around 20 seats out of 50 in Kuwaiti elections that saw most parliament members replaced, in a vote analysts said reflects anger at austerity measures to curb a budget deficit. 
The results of the vote on Nov. 26 are likely to make it harder for the government to work with the new assembly to pass further reforms. 

Kuwait's emir Tuesday pledged half a billion dollars at the start of a major donor conference for Syria, describing the crisis unfolding as the "biggest humanitarian catastrophe in modern history".
      

BELGRADE - Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDS) Boris Tadic is on a several-day visit to Kuwait, at the invitation of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.