Kuwait in mourning after ex-emir dies

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait announced three days of mourning on Tuesday after the death of Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, who was briefly emir of the Gulf Arab state in 2006, state media said.

The mourning is not expected to affect parliamentary elections in the oil-exporting country, which are scheduled for Saturday.

Sheikh Saad was deposed by parliament on health grounds after just nine days in office in January 2006. He was replaced by Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the current emir who had been the de facto ruler of Kuwait for the previous four years as prime minister.

The ailing Sheikh Saad had been named the 14th emir in the Sabah ruling dynasty on the day of the death of his cousin Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

(Writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Stephen Weeks)