Kuwait in mourning for late emir

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Kuwait has announced three days of mourning after the death on Tuesday of Sheikh Saad al-Sabah, who served briefly as head of state in 2006.

Sheikh Saad was deposed by parliament on health grounds after just nine days as leader of the oil-rich Gulf state.

The powerful prime minister, Sheikh Sabah, was named emir in what was seen as a power struggle between different clans of the ruling Sabah dynasty.

Sheikh Saad will be buried on Wednesday, state television said.

Born in 1930, he was the eldest son of the Sheikh Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah, considered the founding father of the independent state of Kuwait.

Campaigning for Saturday's general election was suspended, while banks and the stock market would also be closed.

Sheikh Sabah called elections in March to end a new crisis between parliament and the cabinet. Campaigning has been dogged by allegations of intimidation and vote-buying.

Abdication refusal

Sheikh Saad was a popular figure with the public, although he played little part in official life after his health deteriorated following surgery in 1997.

He became crown prince in 1978 and therefore was an automatic choice to succeed Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed as emir when he died in January 2006.

But he was barely able to shake hands with people coming to pay condolences and never went to parliament to take the oath of office.

However, he apparently refused to abdicate and his deposal by parliament was the first time one of the six Arab Gulf countries had changed its ruler by such means.

Following the succession crisis, Sheikh Sabah appointed his own brother as crown prince, doing away with a Kuwaiti tradition of the Salem clan of Sheikh Saad taking turns to rule with Sheikh Sabah's Jaber clan.

The emirate controls about 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and is a key US ally in the region.