Lebanese leaders mourned on Tuesday the death of Kuwait's ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
President Michel Aoun said that Lebanon lost “a big brother who stood beside the Lebanese people in the difficult times they went through during the past few years.”
This as Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab issued a statement in which he said that the passing of the late Emir of Kuwait "is a great loss for the State of Kuwait and its brotherly people, for Lebanon, for the Arab world and for the world."
Diab noted that the Emir The great Emir was "a man of wisdom, dialogue, communication, and consensus among the Arab world."
"In my personal name and on behalf of Lebanon, I mourn the loss of a great man who holds a special place in the hearts of the Lebanese," he added.
Diab also issued an official memorandum declaring public mourning for a period of three days for the passing of Kuwait’s Emir, lowering the flag at half-mast, and modifying the programs of radio and television channels in line with the state of mourning.
For his part, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that “with the death of the Emir, a page of Arab history written in golden letters unfolds.”
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed that the Arab nation lost “a great leader who defended firmly and consistently just Arab causes.”
Sheikh Sabah, 91, had ruled the Gulf Arab oil producer and U.S. ally since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. His designated successor is his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
"With the utmost sadness and grief for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and people of friendly nations, the Emiri Diwan mourns the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait," his office said.