Related: Crown Prince Sheikh Saad appointed new emir of Kuwait

Kuwait's emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah opens the Parliament election in this July. 19, 2003 file photo. (Xinhua/AFP)

    KUWAIT CITY, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Kuwait's Amiri Diwan announced on Sunday the demise of Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at Sunday dawn.

    A nation-wide mourning is declared for 40 days and Kuwait's state institutions will be closed for three days, starting from Sunday, according to a statement from the Amiri Diwan. He suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2001.

    The late Amir of Kuwait, who passed away at the age of 77, was Kuwait's 13th ruler and its third since its 1961 independence.

    Born in 1928, Sheikh Jaber was appointed Kuwait's first Minister of Finance and Economy in the first Kuwaiti cabinet formed in 1962.

    He became Kuwaiti Prime Minister in 1965, and an Amiri decree was issued in 1966 appointing him Crown Prince.

    Sheikh Jaber became ruler of Kuwait on Dec. 31, 1977, upon the demise of Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Kuwait's 12th ruler.

    Kuwait is a founder member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which has about 99 billion barrels oil reserves, accounting for one tenth of the world's crude reserves. Enditem