The ruler of US ally Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, died today at the age of 78 after a long illness.
The country's ailing crown prince is set to take over as emir of this major Gulf oil producer.
Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah (76), is likely to be a figurehead while Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah runs the country - a role he has played over the past four years, analysts said.
Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah speaks to reporters in 2003
Sheikh Jaber, who had ruled since 1977, presided over the rebuilding of this tiny Gulf Arab state after neighboring Iraq invaded in 1990 and occupied the country for seven months.
He suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2001, limiting his duties in the country which controls about 10 per cent of known global oil reserves.
US-led forces drove Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait in 1991 and used the country as its main staging ground for the 2003 invasion that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Sheikh Jaber fled to Saudi Arabia in 1990 when Saddam's troops invaded but returned after the occupation ended to lead the rebuilding of a land scarred by killing, torture and brutal Iraqi rule. He also oversaw the rehabilitation of oilfields set on fire by retreating Iraqi troops.
Wrapped in a Kuwaiti flag, Sheikh Jaber's body was buried in a simple, sand grave bordered with white stones in a section of the Sulaibikhat cemetry reserved for the ruling family.
Thousands of Kuwaitis and expatriates, some weeping andcarrying posters of Sheikh Jaber, jostled with armed security forces to pay their last respects to their leader. Several Arab dignitaries, including Jordan's King Abdullah and Arab League chief Amr Moussa, also flew into Kuwait for the funeral.
Kuwait said there would be a 40-day period of mourning and government offices would be closed for three days.
The ill health of Sheikh Jaber and Sheikh Saad has caused concern at home and abroad over the future leadership of OPEC's fourth biggest producer.
Calls by parliamentarians and members of the opposition for the Kuwaiti government to replace the crown prince and to share power have also clouded the succession process.
Analysts expect the new emir to keep Kuwait's oil policies and pro-Western outlook. There has been no official word on who will take over, but under the constitution it will be Sheikh Saad, who is largely incapacitated by illness.
Kuwaiti oil officials said today the country would stick to its policy of keeping global markets well supplied. Kuwait pumps at around 2.68 million barrels per day (bpd).
Kuwait enjoys one of the world's highest standards of living, despite its reliance on oil exports, unpredictable oil income and huge losses from the 1990-1991 Iraq occupation.
It hosts up to 30,000 US troops and some 13,000 US citizens live in the country
Kuwait has cracked down on Islamists opposing the US military presence in the country. Diplomats say radical Islam is taking hold among Kuwaiti youth. In December, a Kuwaiti court sentenced to death six suspected militants linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda for bloody attacks in the country.