Kuwait emir, 91, to go to US for medical care after surgery

Kuwait's 91-year-old ruling emir will travel Thursday to the United States morning to seek further medical care after recently undergoing surgery, its state-run news agency reported.

Kuwait has yet to elaborate on what required Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah to seek a previously unannounced medical treatment beginning Saturday and a surgery Sunday. However, Sheikh Sabah’s sudden surgery could inspire a renewed power struggle within Kuwait’s ruling family.

The state-run KUNA news agency quoted a statement from the country's royal court saying Sheikh Sabah would leave "based on advice from the medical team treating His Highness to complete his treatment after a successful surgical procedure."

"We ask the Almighty to aid his recovery and sustain His Highness, who is healthy and well taken care of, and to protect him from all harm," the statement said.

The statement attributed to Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al Sabah, the country's royal court minister, did not elaborate or say where in the US Sheikh Sabah will receive treatment.

Sheikh Sabah, a widely beloved ruler in this OPEC-member nation, took power in 2006 just nine days into the rule of the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah. Concerns mounted during Sheikh Saad’s brief reign as he was seen in public only in a wheelchair and did not speak.

However, Sheikh Sabah’s ascension upset an informal power-sharing arrangement between branches of Kuwait’s ruling family. While Kuwait has since remained politically stable with the most-empowered parliament of any Gulf Arab nation, there have been internal power struggles behind the scenes of his rule.

Kuwait, a nation home to 4.1 million people that’s slightly smaller than the USstate of New Jersey, has the world’s sixth-largest known oil reserves.

It has been a staunch US ally since the 1991 Gulf War expelled the occupying Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein. Today, Kuwait hosts some 13,500 American troops, many at Camp Arifjan south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of US Army Central.