Kuwaiti Officials Call Ruler’s Condition Stable

Kuwait’s emir, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, was in stable condition at a London hospital on Saturday, one day after suffering a brain hemorrhage, Kuwaiti officials said.

Kuwaiti Health Minister Mohammed Ahmed Jarrallah said officials were “very happy” with the results of a brain scan performed in Britain, where the ailing 75-year-old Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah was flown Friday.

“It showed no negative developments in comparison with the one done in Kuwait,” he told state-owned Kuwait Television. “In general, we feel very relieved as we follow the results of his highness.”

Earlier Saturday, the official Kuwait News Agency quoted Jarrallah as saying that there was “no reason to worry” about the emir’s health.

Officials at London’s Cromwell Hospital have declined to comment on his condition, citing patient confidentiality.

Kuwait has pledged support for Washington’s war on terror following the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. The Persian Gulf nation could play a key role in rallying Muslim and Arab backing for the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign.

U.S. planes already use Kuwaiti bases to patrol Iraq, America’s 1991 Gulf War foe, and Kuwait is the site of one of three caches of heavy military equipment positioned to supply U.S. troops.

Kuwaitis gathered in diwaniyas, traditional male-only gathering places, to watch news bulletins, and sent cell phone messages to one another with prayers that God keep Jabbar in good health. The Kuwait News Agency said the U.S. and British governments had offered medical assistance for the emir.

Crown Prince Sheik Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, the prime minister and a distant cousin of the emir, has become deputy emir in the ruler’s absence.

Saad, who at 71 is also in poor health, is first in line to succeed the emir. He has undergone surgery for bleeding in the colon and has spent long periods in Britain and the United States for treatment.

Next in line would most likely be the emir’s brother, Sheik Sabah al Ahmed al Jabbar al Sabah, the 72-year-old foreign minister, who is believed already to be running the country’s day-to-day affairs because of the prime minister’s health problems.

In visits to Washington and New York following the Sept. 11 attacks, Sabah has repeatedly stressed his support for the United States, insisting that Kuwait will not turn its back on the country that liberated it from Iraqi occupation.