Sabah, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salim al- (1930- )

Kuwaiti Crown Prince and politician, prime minister 1978- . Sheikh Saad, eldest son of the former emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Abdullah al-Salim al-Sabah was named Kuwait's crown prince and prime minister at the beginning of 1978, after Sheikh Jabir al-Sabah, the cousin of Sheikh Saad, became emir, thus assuring that the emirship would pass once again to the Salim side of the family. More gregarious and less austere than his cousin, Sheikh Saad's personality made him popular in some quarters, although his background in police and security matters, and his reported suspicion of parliament, led him to be disliked by others.

After initial studies in Kuwait, Sheikh Saad studied at the Hendon Police Academy in England, returning in 1945 to work for the Metropolitan Police in Kuwait. His uncle, Sheikh Sabah al-Salim, was at that time head of the police, and Saad was made deputy head. When the police and the public security departments were combined in 1961, Sheikh Saad was appointed chief of both areas and named minister of the interior, a post he held until 1977. He also served as minister of defence 1965-77.