Kuwait emir admitted to hospital in the US

Gulf state leader was to meet President Trump but officials say face-to-face talks now postponed.

Emir of Kuwait
KUNA reported in August that the emir had "recovered from a setback and is in good health now" [Raed Quietena/EPA]

Kuwait‘s 90-year-old ruler was admitted to a hospital in the United States for medical tests and postponed a meeting with President Donald Trump.

It wasn’t clear the type of tests the Kuwaiti emir – Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah – was undergoing or when he sought medical care, according to a report by the official KUNA news agency on Sunday.

Sheikh Sabah was “admitted to a hospital in the US for medical tests and thus rescheduled a meeting with President Donald Trump”, Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, the minister in charge of the royal court, was quoted as saying.

He said a new date for the meeting was expected to be announced later in the day.

The emir arrived in Washington, DC last Monday before his meeting with Trump. 

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On August 18, KUNA reported the emir had “recovered from a setback and is in good health now”. It also cited a palace statement without specifying the nature of the “setback”.

Earlier that day Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had wished Sheikh Sabah a “speedy recovery” after holding talks with officials from the oil-rich Gulf emirate.

The emir, who ascended to power in January 2006, had been seen in public the week before during Muslim prayers and appeared in good health.

Sheikh Sabah had a pacemaker implanted in 2000 and underwent successful urinary tract surgery in the US in August 2007.

Source: News Agencies

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