Gulf News, Saturday, Sep 19, 2020 | Safar 02, 1442
Trump awards Kuwaiti emir ‘prestigious’ decoration
US President Donald Trump awarded the US Legion of Merit, Degree Chief
Commander, to Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the White House
said in a statement on Friday, adding that it was the first time the honour
has been given since 1991.
The 91-year-old emir arrived in the United States in July to complete
medical treatment, the Kuwaiti state news agency said at the time, adding
that he was in stable condition after having undergone successful surgery in
July.
The emir’s eldest son, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah,
accepted the award on behalf of his father at a private ceremony with Trump
on Friday.
The White House praised the emir as an “unwavering friend and partner to the
United States” who gave “indispensable support to the United States
throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and the
Defeat-ISIS [Daesh] campaign.” Operation Iraqi Freedom refers to the 2003 US
invasion of Iraq to oust former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein; Operation
Enduring Freedom to the 2001 US-led military operation that drove the
Taliban from power in Afghanistan; and the Defeat-Daesh campaign to the
coalition effort to end Daesh’s control of territory in Syria and Iraq.
The White House described the award given to the Kuwaiti emir on Friday
as a rare, prestigious decoration that can only be bestowed by the
president, typically to foreign heads of state or government.
On Monday, Kuwait’s prime minister told the Kuwaiti cabinet of the
improvement of the emir’s health.
In July, Kuwait’s cabinet tweeted that the emir arrived at Rochester
airport in the United States, without specifying which US city of that
name. The main campus of the Mayo Clinic, among the top US medical
centres, is in Rochester, Minnesota.