The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has died in his late 70s, a court statement says.

Sheikh Jaber, who had led the country since December 1977, suffered ill health and was seldom seen in public after suffering a minor stroke in 2001.

The statement announcing his death was read on Kuwaiti state television.

Concerns have grown in recent years for the Gulf state's future leadership, with the country's crown prince also in his 70s and said to be in poor health.

A 40-day period of mourning has been declared and government offices will close for three days.

Grieving Kuwaitis started to gather outside the late emir's Dasman Palace in Kuwait City on Sunday morning, the AFP news agency reports.

Sheikh Jaber, who held the post of prime minister from 1965-78 and was heir-apparent from 1966, was the 13th ruler of a 245-year-old dynasty.

He survived an assassination attempt in 1985 and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.

He fled to Saudi Arabia, where he established a government in exile, returning in March 1991 after a massive US-led international military campaign ousted the Iraqi forces.

Under Sheikh Jaber's rule, Kuwait has built close ties with the US and the UK.

The first Arab country in the Gulf to have an elected parliament, its ruling family has recently come under increasing pressure to loosen its hold on power.

The BBC's Gulf correspondent, Julia Wheeler, says Sheikh Jaber was a decisive ruler in his early days who rose swiftly through the ranks.

However, his exile during the invasion by Iraq had a traumatic effect on him and he rarely appeared in public after his return, she says.

His later years will be remembered chiefly for electoral reforms which have seen women take public office and will give them the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 2007, our correspondent adds.

Sheikh Jaber will be succeeded by Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, a distant cousin chosen as the heir apparent in 1978.

The crown prince was admitted to hospital in June last year suffering from a high level of blood glucose. He had previously been treated abroad for other ailments.

Although he was deputising for Sheikh Jaber, the crown prince's ill health meant many of the emir's daily duties were handed to Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Sheikh Jaber appointed Sheik Sabah - his own brother - as prime minister in 2003, breaking with a political tradition that crown princes also serve as heads of government.

PHOTO CAPTION

The Emir of Kuwait, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, is seen in this Feb. 1997 photo. (AP)

Siurce: BBC