Kuwait former oil minister dies – royal court

KUWAIT CITY – A Kuwaiti former oil minister and senior member of the Al-Sabah ruling family, Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah, has died after a long battle with cancer, said the royal court. He was 68.

Sheikh Saud died late on Saturday night in a Kuwaiti hospital, the court said in a statement.

The royal, who also served as ambassador to Britain in the 1980s and later to the United States, returned to Kuwait earlier this month after a year in London receiving medical treatment for cancer.

During the 1990-1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, Sheikh Saud played an important diplomatic role in helping form a US-led international coalition that liberated Kuwait in February 1991.

Following the first general election after the liberation in 1992, Sheikh Saud was appointed information minister in his first ministerial post. In 1998, he was appointed oil minister until 2001.

His funeral will be held later on Sunday.