Alaa Hussein Ali

Ala'a Hussein Ali Al-Khafaji Al-Jaber is a Kuwaiti-born Iraqi military officer who served as the head of the Republic of Kuwait, a brief puppet government in Kuwait after the invasion of Kuwait">Iraq invasion of Kuwait">invasion of Kuwait.

Political career

Al-Khafaji held dual nationalities as an Iraqi and Kuwaiti, having grown up in Kuwait and studied in Baghdad where he became a member of the ruling Ba'ath Party. He held the rank of second lieutenant in the Kuwaiti army prior to the invasion, during the invasion however, Al-Khafaji was promoted to colonel in Baghdad and placed at the head of a 9-member puppet government. On August 9, 1990, Kuwait was annexed by Iraq and Al-Khafaji became the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister.

In 1993, Al-Khafaji was sentenced in absentia to death by hanging for treason by the Kuwaiti government. In January 2000 he returned to Kuwait after having fled to Norway to attempt to appeal the sentence. The court however, affirmed his conviction on May 3, 2000. In March 2001, his sentence was commuted by the court of cassation to life in prison instead due to his voluntary return.
In September 2024, the Kuwaiti government revoked Al-Khafaji's Kuwaiti citizenship on grounds of high treason.