King Abdullah of Jordan and Oman's Sultan Haitham were among regional leaders who arrived in Kuwait in Thursday to offer their condolences on the passing of the late Emir, Sheikh Sabah.
Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Iraq's President Barham Salih also travelled to Kuwait convey their sympathies.
Sheikh Sabah's death on Tuesday at the age of 91 started an outpouring of condolences and tributes from world leaders.
Known as the "prince of diplomacy and humanity", he had ruled Kuwait since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 35 years before that.
US Ambassador to UN Adlai Stevenson with Talat Ghoussein, Charge d'Affaires of Kuwait Embassy and then Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Sabah, at Kuwaiti reception at UN. Getty Images
Sheikh Sabah, Kuwait's foreign minister between 1963 and 2003, and Khalid Jaffar, Kuwait's ambassador to London, with Sir Neville Bland Of the UK Foreign Office in 1964. Rex Features
US president Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, secretary of state, meet Arab foreign ministers Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Sheikh Sabah of Kuwait and Omar Saqqaf of Saudi Arabia on October 17, 1973 at the Oval Office in Washington, United States. AFP
French president Jacques Chirac shakes hands with Sheikh Sabah at the Elysee Palace in Paris on September 7, 1998. AFP
Kuwait's foreign minister Sheikh Sabah, commerce minister Abdel Wahab Al Wazzan and finance and communications minister Sheikh Ahmad open the Gulf state's free trade zone in November 1999. AFP
Sheikh Sabah kisses a Palestinian boy at a hospital in October 2000. Sheikh Sabah visited five Palestinians who had arrived in Kuwait for medical care. AFP
Kuwaiti's first deputy premier, foreign minister and chairman of the Supreme Petroleum Council Sheikh Sabah visits injured oil workers following a blast at the Al Rawdhatain oilfield north of Kuwait, near the border with Iraq. Four people were killed and 19 others injured. AFP
Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri talks to Kuwait's deputy premier and foreign minister Sheikh Sabah during the opening session of the Arab leader's summit in Sharm El Sheikh in March 2003. AFP
Kuwaiti prime minister Sheikh Sabah performs a Kuwaiti traditional dance during the inauguration of a naval base in Kuwait in 2004. AFP
US president George W Bush shakes hands with Kuwait's prime minister Sheikh Sabah in the Oval Office of the White House in July 2005. Reuters
Sheikh Sabah welcomes Sultan Qaboos of Oman to Kuwait City in June 2005 at the start of a three-day official visit. AFP
Sheikh Saad, Sheikh Salem, chief of Kuwait's national guard, and prime minister Sheikh Sabah receive condolences on the death of Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber at the Al Bayan Palace on January 17, 2006 in Kuwait City. AFP
Sheikh Sabah meets Jordan's King Abdullah in September 2008. Reuters
Chinese President Hu Jintao walks with Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah during a welcoming ceremony held at the Great Wall of the People in Beijing, China in May 2009. EPA
Sheikh Sabah arrives with UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa at the final session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait City on December 15, 2009. AFP
President Sheikh Khalifa with Sheikh Sabah at the GCC Summit in the UAE in December 2010. EPA
Sheikh Sabah at the December 2010 GCC Summit. EPA
Sheikh Sabah is welcomed by Crown Prince Naruhito prior to their official dinner at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in 2012. Reuters
Sheikh Sabah chats with Queen Elizabeth II as he arrives at Windsor Castle during a three-day state visit on November 27, 2012.
Getty Images
Sheikh Khalifa meets Sheikh Sabah in Al Ain on October 3, 2012. AFP
Sheikh Sabah with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in 2014. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid receives Sheikh Sabah at the Presidential Airport. Seen with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid of Kuwait, November 07, 2014. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Crown Prince Court
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed with Sheikh Sabah at Abu Dhabi's Presidential Airport in October 2014. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi
US president Barack Obama shakes hands with Sheikh Sabah at Camp David in May 2015. EPA
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid meet with Sheikh Sabah at Zabeel Palace, June 7, 2017. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2018. AFP
Sheikh Sabah meets Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas during the 2013 Arab-African Summit in Kuwait. Getty Images
Sheikh Sabah is received by Bahrain's King Hamad upon his arrival in Bahrain for the GCC summit in December 2016. Reuters
Sheikh Sabah and Saudi Arabia's King Salman in Jeddah on June 6, 2017. Reuters
Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah greets the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Kuwait in September 2018. Reuters
King Abdullah II of Jordan attending a meeting in Mecca with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Emir Sheikh Sabah of Kuwait and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE. AFP
Sheikh Sabah at the Kuwait National Assembly in October 2019. EPA
"The Arab and Muslim nations lost a wise leader who was dedicated to serving his people and defending Arab and Islamic causes," King Abdullah told Kuwait's new ruler, Sheikh Nawaf, brother of Sheikh Sabah.
King Abdullah was accompanied by Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah and members of government and senior officials including Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, Senate President Faisal Fayez and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Jordan's Petra news agency reported.
Sultan Haitham, Mr Salih and Mr El Sisi were also accompanied by high-level delegations and were received at the Emiri Terminal by Sheikh Nawaf, Kuna reported.
Sheikh Sabah was buried on Wednesday after his body was flown home from the US, where he had been receiving treatment since July.
UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, visited Kuwait on Wednesday to convey the country's respects.
The President, Sheikh Khalifa, ordered funeral prayers for Sheikh Sabah at mosques across the UAE after asr prayers on Thursday, the state news agency Wam reported.
The Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, ordered that the emirate's corniche street be renamed after Sheikh Sabah.
The move was recognition of the great services Sheikh Sabah performed for "his homeland, the sisterly state of Kuwait and the whole world", Wam reported.
"It is also an acknowledgement of the great role that Sheikh Sabah played before the establishment of the UAE Union and his direct follow-up to many of Kuwait's development initiatives in the region."
The head of the International islamic Charity Organization, Abdullah al-Maatouq, leads prayers over the body of the late emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah upon its arrival for burial at the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque. AFP
Officials, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, carrying the bier of the late emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah upon its arrival for burial at the Sulaibikhat Cemetery. AFP
Officials, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, carrying the bier of the late emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah upon its arrival for burial at the Sulaibikhat Cemetery. AFP
Officials, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, carrying the bier of the late emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah upon its arrival for burial at the Sulaibikhat Cemetery. AFP
Kuwait's new Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (C-L, in black), mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, walking next to the bier of the late emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah upon its arrival for burial at the Sulaibikhat Cemetery.
People perform funeral prayers at the body of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Reuters
People perform funeral prayers at the body of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Reuters
The body of Kuwait's late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah, who died after medical treatment in US, arrives in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Reuters
The body of Kuwait's late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah, who died after medical treatment in US, arrives in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Reuters
People carry the body of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah after funeral prayers in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Reuters
Kuwaiti national flags fly at half-mast in mourning the death of Kuwait's Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah, in Kuwait City, Kuwait. EPA
Ambulance carrying body of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah arrive at Bilal bin Rabah mosque for funeral prayer in Kuwait City, Kuwait. EPA
Ambulance carrying body of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah arrives at Bilal bin Rabah mosque for funeral prayers in Kuwait City, Kuwait. EPA
Officials and relatives carry the coffin of late Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah for funeral prayers at Bilal bin Rabah mosque in Kuwait City, Kuwait. EPA
Updated: October 01, 2020, 10:47 PM