"While the political handicapping had already begun, the attention of most Kuwaitis today was mostly focused on the funeral for the emir, who led them through the turbulent years of the Iran-Iraq war, the occupation of their country by Iraq, and through the general turmoil that continues to buffet the region.
Following afternoon prayer today, a white van carrying the body of the emir cut through dense masses of weeping Kuwaitis waiting at the Sulaibikhat Cemetery, the largest public Sunni Muslim cemetery in Kuwait. The security officers held hands forming a human wall and struggled to keep the mourners from approaching the emir's body, which was wrapped in a Kuwaiti flag and placed in an open box.
Waves of men wearing the traditional checkered red-and-white and plain-white Arab head coverings rushed to participate in carrying the coffin on their shoulders. Others stretched their hands up high to take pictures of the coffin with their cellphone cameras.
Many women standing at the back of the cemetery and dressed in black broke down in tears. Some of them carried photos of the late emir, and some were accompanied by young children.
As Kuwaiti Satellite Television broadcast the funeral procession, the announcers heaped praise on the emir. "Under his leadership, Kuwait went from being small" to a modern country, one announcer said.
Another said, repeating lines from a traditional Arab eulogy, "Our hearts are grieving, our eyes are weeping for your departure, our Prince Jaber." "

-The New York Times