Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah

Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah (born 1959) is a former Kuwaiti military officer. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior from January 17, 2024, and as Minister of Defense from January 17, 2024, until February 4, 2025.

Biography Sheikh Fahd Yusuf Saud Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah was born on May 1, 1959. After graduating from the Military College in Kuwait, he worked as an officer in the Kuwaiti Army's Amiri Guard, eventually retiring with the rank of Colonel. Notably, he was involved in the evacuation and protection of the then Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and the Crown Prince, Sheikh Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah, to Saudi Arabia in 1990 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Controversy

Citizenship Revocation Campaign (2024–present) In late 2024, Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah initiated a sudden controversial policy to revoke the citizenship of approximately 42,000 Kuwaiti nationals, resulting in widespread statelessness within a six-month period. Al-Sabah publicly described the revocations as targeting fraudulent citizenship cases; however, critics highlighted that more than two-thirds of those affected were women who had legally acquired nationality under Article 8 of Kuwait’s nationality law, through marriage to Kuwaiti citizens. Many of these women had held citizenship for decades before abruptly losing their status without prior notice, causing significant public anxiety and social disruption.