Kuwaiti leader 'improving' after stroke

Kuwait sits on 10% of known world oil reserves

The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, is said to be improving in a London hospital after suffering a mild stroke.

The 73-year-old leader was flown to London for medical treatment on Friday evening and admitted to the exclusive Cromwell Hospital for observation.

Kuwaiti officials say Sheikh Jaber is in "high spirits" and talking to visitors, after test results "confirmed the positive developments in the health of his Highness".

"According to the doctors he is in a satisfactory, stable condition and he remains under observation," said Khaled al-Tarrah, director of the Kuwait Information Centre in London.

Earlier, Kuwait's Health Minister Mohammad al-Jarallah, who is himself a doctor, said a CT scan had shown "no negative developments" since the emir left Kuwait.

Cromwell Hospital has refused to comment on the emir's health, on the grounds of patient confidentiality.

Kuwait is bound to the US by the threat of Iraq

The emir, who has ruled the oil-rich state since 1977, was taken to hospital on Friday after suffering "an ailment which led to... a brain haemorrhage", Kuwaiti TV said.

But the bleeding was described as limited and his condition "stable".

Government ministers said he was not expected to undergo surgery in London.

BBC Middle East correspondent Frank Gardner said the emir's sudden illness had shocked Kuwaitis and raised fears about his eventual successor.

People flocked to the hospital where he was taken in Kuwait before a special hospital plane flew him to London.

Important ally

Kuwait is a major Western ally in the Gulf.

The country was freed from Iraqi occupation by a US-led coalition in 1991. It has offered its whole-hearted support to the anti-terrorist coalition President Bush is forming following the suicide attacks in Washington and New York.

Sheikh Jaber himself has voiced his "disgust" at the attacks and promised to work "hand in hand" with Washington, which keeps combat aircraft and an important cache of emergency military supplies in Kuwait.

The emir presides over great prosperity but sometimes demands austerity

But some ordinary Kuwaitis resent US support for Israel and local Islamic fundamentalist groups have interpreted the plane attacks as a reminder of "Palestinian suffering".

The government's support for Washington has also bred resentment among Arab neighbours.

Dynasty

The eventual successor to Sheikh Jaber may also become a difficult issue, as the next in line, Sheikh Sa'd al-Abdallah al-Salim al-Sabah, is 71 and has a history of health problems.

But the emir already plays little active part in the running of the state, which is divided between Sheikh Sa'd and the foreign minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah.

Sheikh Jaber has ruled Kuwait for the past 23 years, apart from the few months during which it was occupied by Iraq.

As such he has continued a 250-year dynasty.

Since his triumphant return to power after the Gulf War, he has carried out several important reforms, such as the revival of the Kuwaiti parliament he abolished in 1986 and laws against corruption and state secrecy.

Under his rule, Kuwait has become one of the world's richest states and biggest investors.