Kuwait’s ailing emir, Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, has abdicated following an agreement within the ruling family, a politician said tonight.

THE Emir of Kuwait, who survived assassination attempts and the Iraqi invasion of his country died yesterday after a long illness.

Political wrangling is threatening to derail the fight by Kuwaiti women for greater political rights in the conservative Gulf state ahead of a crucial parliamentary session today on allowing females to participate in municipal elections for the first time.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has reached out for support from the foreign ministers of four UN Security Council nations as US and British diplomats crafted a proposed new resolution on disarming Iraq.