The Kuwaiti parliament today voted unanimously to depose the country's ailing emir on health grounds, ending a nine-day leadership crisis.

The country's cabinet met tonight and named the prime minister as the successor to Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah.

Justice Minister Ahmad Baqer told Reuters an official letter with Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah's nomination would be sent to parliament tomorrow and that he expected a voting session to be held on Sunday or Monday.

Kuwait controls 10 per cent of the world's reserves of crude oil. The nomination of Sheikh Sabah as its new ruler ended the political uncertainty which had gripped Kuwait since Sheikh Saad , who is 76 and incapacitated by illness, became emir on January 15 after the death of his cousin. According to some reports, he was too unwell even to say the oath of office.

Sheikh Sabah, a cousin of Sheikh Saad, has already been de facto ruler for four years because of the ill-health of both the late emir and Sheikh Saad.

"After listening to the medical report, the assembly with its 65 members agreed to remove (Sheikh Saad) from the post of emir," said Jassem al-Kharafi, the Speaker of the parliament. He added that there were no conditions attached to the emir’s abdication letter, which arrived shortly after the vote had taken place.

"Even though his Highness the emir has decided to step down he is still in the hearts of all of Kuwait’s people and we have a lot of love, appreciation and respect for him. This is God’s will and there’s nothing to do except to wish him to get well and to have complete rest."

Analysts described the vote as a rare assertion of parliamentary muscle against a hereditary ruler in the Arab world, even though Kuwait’s ruling family had agreed that Sheikh Saad should step down. It was hailed as a triumph for the rule of law in a region dominated by autocratic governments.

"What happened today is positive, and goes beyond resolving a crisis. Everybody felt the importance of the constitution and parliament, including the ruling family," said Abdullah al-Naibari, a former MP.

"Today, Kuwait has rid itself of tribal and social constraints," added analyst Mohammed al-Jassem."The constitution alone now governs the politics of Kuwait."

Mr Al-Kharafi acknowledged divisions within the royal family over the move to depose the emir, but denied there had been a leadership crisis.

"We take pride in having followed all our constitutional procedures," he said. "In spite of our differences, the spirit of brotherhood prevailed."

The new emir can be confirmed by a simply majority of the parliament’s 50 members.

Sheikh Sabah has strong support within the ruling family, but his accession would interrupt a tradition of alternating power between the two rival branches of the al Sabah dynasty. Sheikh Sabah and the late emir hail from the family’s Jaber branch which holds several key government ministries, while Sheikh Saad is from the Salem wing, whose only other cabinet post is that of foreign minister.

If confirmed in office, Sheikh Sabah is expected to maintain Kuwait’s oil policy and the pro-Western stance of the country.

The succession crisis has forced parliament to put off indefinitely its regular business, including a debate on an $8.5 billion plan to boost oil output with the help of foreign firms.

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