Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Encyclopedia
Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, GCB (Hon), GCMG (Hon)  of the al-Sabah
Al-Sabah
The House of Al Sabah is the ruling family of Kuwait. They are a clan from the Anizah tribe which migrated to Kuwait in the early 18th century from Najd . They are also from the Utub tribe. After reaching Kuwait, they entered in an alliance with the other families of the Utub such as Al-Khalifa...

 dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

, was the Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 and thirteenth Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

 of Kuwait, serving from December 31, 1977 until his death on January 15, 2006. The third monarch to rule Kuwait since its independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

 from Britain, Jaber had previously served as Minister of Finance and Economy from 1961 until 1965, when he was appointed Prime Minister prior to becoming Kuwait's ruler.

Jaber is most famous for having been monarch of Kuwait during the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of his country, which led to the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

 in which his country was liberated by an international coalition acting under United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 sanction, composed of troops from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, together with forces from several Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 states.

Early years

Jaber was born in Kuwait City
Kuwait City
-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...

. Sheikh Jaber (of the Al-Sabah
Al-Sabah
The House of Al Sabah is the ruling family of Kuwait. They are a clan from the Anizah tribe which migrated to Kuwait in the early 18th century from Najd . They are also from the Utub tribe. After reaching Kuwait, they entered in an alliance with the other families of the Utub such as Al-Khalifa...

 dynasty, which has ruled Kuwait since the 18th century) was the third son of the late Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

 Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was sheikh of Kuwait from 29 March 1921 until 29 January 1950, and the 10th ruler of the Al-Sabah dynasty of Kuwait....

, who served as Kuwait's emir from 1921 to 1950.

Education

Sheikh Jaber received his early education at Al-Mubarakiya School, Al-Ahmediya School, and Al-Sharqiya School, and was subsequently tutored privately in religion, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Arabic, and the sciences.

Early career

In 1961, he was appointed as Kuwait's Minister of Finance and Economy. In this position, Sheikh Jaber was tasked with putting the new Kuwaiti dinar
Kuwaiti dinar
The dinar is the currency of Kuwait. It is sub-divided into 1000 fils. It is the highest-valued currency unit in the world.-History:...

 into circulation and establishing the Kuwaiti Currency Board, of which he was the chair. As minister, Jaber adopted, and was the first chairman of, the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development from 1962-1964. The Fund provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries; currently it is helping 103 countries. The country's oil revenues transformed it from a largely tribal society to a modern, urbanized state with one of the world's largest per capita incomes. During this time, the Fund expanded to aid five countries and gave loans to another eight. The money going into the fund came from oil earnings, with virtually all of it being sent outside Kuwait.

Iran-Iraq War

Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 found itself geographically in the middle of the Iran-Iraq War
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...

 that took place from 1980 to 1988. In 1985, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 became a direct target in the war when a terrorist group, the Islamic Holy War, attacked Sheikh Jaber’s motorcade, leaving him uninjured but killing two bodyguards and a bystander, in addition to the suicide bomber. It was discovered that the group had ties to Iran. The group was demanding the release of seventeen convicted terrorists who were being held in Kuwaiti prison.
Throughout the war, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 suffered from many security threats, including a series of bombings. In 1986, one year after the attack on Sheikh Jaber’s motorcade, there was an attack on an oil installation, which almost caused the shutdown of Kuwait’s oil industry. Members of the cabinet grew increasingly angry over the situation, believing that their role was to protect the citizens of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

. They believed that they were not fulfilling their roles as government officials and that more should be done to protect the citizens. Therefore, the entire cabinet resigned as a sign of opposition towards the policies of Sheikh Jaber that had led to the security breeches in Kuwait and to show that they believed that more should be done. Two days later, Sheikh Jaber unconstitutionally dissolved the Parliament (which was not reinstated until 1991) and several articles of the Constitution (including freedom of the press), citing security concerns. Sheikh Jaber then appointed a new cabinet, which included many of the previous members, showing the emir’s faith in the previous officials.

Gulf War

After much discussion of a border dispute between Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 invaded its smaller neighbor on August 2, 1990 with the stated intent of annexing it. Apparently, the task of the invading Iraqi army was to capture or kill Sheikh Jaber. However, the Iraqi army was never able to accomplish this goal because Sheikh Jaber and his government escaped to Saudi Arabia within hours of the invasion; in Saudi Arabia they ran the Kuwaiti government from exile in a hotel in Dhahran
Dhahran
Dhahran is a city located in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Large oil reserves were first identified in the Dhahran area in 1931, and in 1935 Standard Oil of California drilled the first commercially viable oil well...

. The Kuwaiti government-in-exile was one of the most effective governments to ever operate in exile. From the mountainous city of Taif resort in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, Sheikh Jaber set up his government so that its ministers were still in control and were in constant communication with the people still in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

. The government was able to direct an underground armed resistance made up of both military and civilian forces and was able to provide public services to the Kuwaiti people who remained, such as emergency care through the funds that it had saved from oil revenues. Sheikh Jaber also received help from a United Nations mandated coalition led by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Jaber and his government lobbied hard and supported military action against Iraq before and during the Gulf War.
When the war ended on February 28, 1991, Sheikh Jaber remained in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 while declaring three months of martial law, causing the accusation that he was trying to monopolize too much power for the small constitutional monarchy. By declaring martial law, those who were appointed to government positions were able to ensure the safety of the people. By imposing martial law, government officials were able to ensure that there were no Iraqis still in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 who may have attempted to once again overthrow the government. They were also tasked with making sure that the country was safe enough for Sheikh Jaber and his government to return, which they eventually did on March 15, 1991.

Policies

While in exile during the Persian Gulf War, Sheikh Jaber promised women the right to vote and run for office after Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 was liberated. However, it was not until May 15, 2005 that the parliament passed the law allowing women to vote and hold office after long years of pressure was placed on Jaber’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. It had taken many tries before the law was passed. The movement started when Sheikh Jaber took the opportunity of having a dissolved parliament to issue a decree allowing women to vote in the 2003 election. He then suffered from a backlash from the parliament when they rejected the 1999 measure that would have given women the right to vote and run for office. Lawmakers claimed that it was not that they opposed the measure rather it was out of protest because it was legislated by decree. Following the passage of the law, women were able to vote and run for office for their first time in June 2006. More than 195,000 women voted and twenty-eight ran for seats in the parliament.

Family life

The people of Kuwait loved Sheikh Jaber to the extent that they referred to him as 'Baba Jaber', meaning Father Jaber. His actual family is quite complex; it is unclear how many wives he had. He had more than forty children.
In September 2000, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah suffered from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 and went to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 for treatment. Five years later, he died on January 15, 2006, aged 79, from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was succeeded by the Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah
Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah
Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, KCMG was the Emir of Kuwait during a short reign of nine days , succeeding the late Sheikh Jaber....

. The government announced a 40-day period of mourning
Mourning
Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate...

. and closed for three days.

Children

  • Khalid Usman Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah
  • Mubarak Bin Jabir
  • Salim Bin Jabir
  • Hamud Bin Jabir
  • Naif Bin Jabir
  • Ali Bin Jabir
  • Bandar Bin Jabir
  • Ahmad Bin Jabir
  • Fahad Bin Jabir
  • Abdullah Bin Jabir
  • Muta'ib Bin Jabir

  • Faisal Bin Jabir
  • Thamir Bin Jabir
  • Muhammad Bin Jabir
  • Hamad Bin Jabir
  • Mish'al Bin Jabir
  • Sabah Bin Jabir
  • Jarrah Bin Jabir
  • Muhammad Bin Jabir
  • Muhammad Bin Jabir
  • Lolwa Bint Jabir

  • 'Alia Bint Jabir
  • Anwaar Bint Jabir
  • Afrah Bint Jabir
  • Awrad Bint Jabir
  • Amaar Bint Jabir
  • Reema Bint Jabir
  • 'Azza Bint Jabir
  • Shaikha Bint Jabir
  • Ghairwaan Bint Jabir
  • Marhab Bint Jabir

  • Raba'a Bint Jabir
  • Fidha Bint Jabir
  • Hanouf Bint Jabir
  • Bibi Bint Jabir
  • Wahsh Bint Jabir
  • Wasil Bint Jabir
  • Mariam Bint Jabir
  • Noriya Bint Jabir
  • Shahad Bint Jabir
  • Badriya Bint Jabir
  • AlZain Bint Jaber
  • Entisar Bint Jaber

Titles

  • 1926-1937: Sheikh
    Sheikh
    Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

     Jabir bin Ahmad Al-Sabah
  • 1937-1966: His Excellency
    Excellency
    Excellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organization or state.Usually, people styled "Excellency" are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, aristocracy, and military, and others holding equivalent rank .It is...

     Sheikh Jabir bin Ahmad Al-Sabah
  • 1966-1977: His Highness Sheikh Jabir bin Ahmad Al-Sabah, Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait
    Kuwait
    The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

  • 1977-1979: His Highness Sheikh Jabir III bin Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
  • 1979-1995: His Highness Sheikh Jabir III bin Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, GCMG
  • 1995-2006: His Highness Sheikh Jabir III bin Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, GCB, GCMG


Honours

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)-1979 Order of the Yugoslav Great Star - 1979 Collar of the Order of Badr Collar of the Order of the Nile
Order of the Nile
The Order of the Nile is Egypt's highest state honor. The award was instituted in 1915 by Sultan Hussein Kamel to be awarded by Egypt for exceptional services to the nation...

 Collar of the Order of Hussein ibn Ali of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

 Collar of the Order of Independence Collar of the Order of Independence Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

 - 1989 Grand Cordon of the Order of the Cedars Grand Cordon of the Civil Order, 1st Class Grand Cordon of the Order of Honour, 1st Class Nishan-e-Pakistan
Nishan-e-Pakistan
The Nishan-e-Pakistan is the highest of civil awards and decorations given by the Government of Pakistan for the highest degree of service to the country and nation of Pakistan...

 Grand Cordon of the Order of Mugunghwa Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
Order of the Chrysanthemum
is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the collar of the Order was added on January 4, 1888. Although technically the order has only one class, it can either be awarded with collar , or with grand cordon...

 - 1995 Star of the Republic, 1st Class Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) - 1995 Collar of the Order of Muhammadiya - 2004
.

Further reading

  • Hassan, Hamdi A. (1999), The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait: Religion, Identity and Otherness in the Analysis of War and Conflict (Series: Critical Studies on Islam); New York: Pluto (UK).
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