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Kuwaiti emir recuperates in Switzerland after medical treatment | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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KUWAIT CITY (AP) – The emir of Kuwait, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, is recuperating in Switzerland after medical treatment in the United States, state television reported Wednesday.

The prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, left Kuwait Wednesday to visit the emir, his half brother, in Switzerland, the TV reported.

Sheik Sabah had said on the weekend that the emir was well and was going to Switzerland for convalescence.

Sheik Jaber, 79, arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday. He had spent more than two months in the United States where he was operated on late May for a dilated blood vessel in his left leg.

The emir suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2001. He has made few public appearances in recent years. Whenever he did appear, he spoke with difficulty and relied on support from his aides.

The ruling family of Kuwait, a close Washington ally, has been fairly open about the emir”s health, but has kept quiet about succession plans. Family members are expected to decide the succession in private.

With the crown prince, Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, ailing with colon problems, the prime minister would seem to be the strongest candidate to succeed.

Sheik Jaber was emir when former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990. A U.S.-led coalition liberated the nation seven months later. U.S.-led forces used Kuwait as their launch pad for the 2003 invasion of Iraq that led to Saddam”s ouster.