KUWAIT - The court of His Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, mourned Shaikh Saud Nasser Al Saud Al Sabah who passed away at the age 68.

Shaikh Saud died late on Saturday night in a Kuwaiti hospital, the court said in a statement.

The royal, who also served as ambassador to Britain in the 1980s and later to the United States, returned to Kuwait earlier this month after a year in London receiving medical treatment for cancer.

During the 1990-1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, Shaikh Saud played an important diplomatic role in helping form a US-led international coalition that liberated Kuwait in February 1991.

Following the first general election after the liberation in 1992, Shaikh Saud was appointed information minister in his first ministerial post.

In 1998, he was appointed oil minister until 2001.

His funeral will be held later on Sunday.