Ala'a Hussein Ali Al-Khafaji Al-Jaber ( ar, علاء حسين علي خفاجي الجابر ; born ) served as the head of a brief puppet government in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

(the "

Republic of Kuwait The Republic of Kuwait was a short-lived and self-styled republic formed in the aftermath of the invasion of Kuwait by Ba'athist Iraq during the early stages of the Gulf War. During the invasion, the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council stated t ...

", August 4–8, 1990) during the initial stages of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

Career

Ali held dual nationalities as an Iraqi and Kuwaiti, having grown up in Kuwait and studied in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

where he became a member of the ruling

Baath party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

. Having held a lieutenant's commission in the Kuwaiti army prior to the invasion, Ali was promoted to colonel in Baghdad and placed at the head of a 9-member puppet government during the invasion. A week later Kuwait was annexed by Iraq and Ali became Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister. In 1993, Ali was sentenced '' in absentia'' to death by hanging for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

by the Kuwaiti government. In January 2000 he returned to Kuwait attempting to appeal the sentence. The court however, confirmed Ali guilty of treason again on May 3, 2000. In March 2001, his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

References

External links

The Story of the Kuwaiti QuislingBBC: Death penalty for puppet leader
1940s births Kuwaiti politicians Rulers of Kuwait Living people Kuwaiti prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Kuwait People sentenced to death in absentia People convicted of treason Kuwaiti people of Iraqi descent Republicanism in Kuwait Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians {{Iraq-politician-stub