Kuwait's cabinet has unanimously nominated Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as the new amir of the country, Ahmad Baqer, the Kuwaiti justice minister, said.

Baqer told Reuters on Tuesday an official letter with the nomination will be sent to parliament on Wednesday.

If confirmed by parliament, Sheikh Sabah, who as prime minister has been de facto ruler of Kuwait for the past four years, will officially replace the ailing amir, Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah.

Earlier on Tuesday, according to Jassem al-Kharafi, the assembly speaker, the Kuwaiti parliament unanimously voted to remove Sheikh Saad due to his poor health. He had become amir on 15 January.

The vote was taken shortly before the house received an abdication letter from the amir, parliamentarians said.

"After listening to the medical report [on Sheikh Saad's health], the assembly with its 65 members agreed to remove him from the post of amir," Kharafi said. He said that the cabinet would run the country until a new amir is named.

Long tradition

Sheikh Sabah has the support of many in the ruling family, but by becoming amir he would interrupt a long tradition of alternating power between the two rival branches of the Al-Sabah dynasty.

Both Sheikh Saad and Sheikh Sabah are in their mid-70s - their exact ages are not known - but Sheikh Sabah is the more fit of the two.

He had a heart pacemaker implanted but otherwise is said to be in good health.

The leadership crisis began coming to a head on Friday when scores of ruling family members visited Sheikh Sabah at his residence and asked him to take charge of the country.

He accepted the draft, which was widely seen as approval of his becoming amir.

The push for Sheikh Sabah's ascension, however, was snarled when some members of Sheikh Saad's branch of the ruling family objected.

Key among them was Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al-Sabah, chief of the National Guard and the oldest member of the family. His status of family elder added particular weight to his objection.

PHOTO CAPTION

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (C) enters parliament in Kuwait City January 24, 2006. (Reuters)