Jassem Al-Kharafi

Jassem Al-Kharafi,, was a Kuwaiti billionaire businessman who was the speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly from 1999 to 2011. Al-Kharafi studied Business Administration at the Manchester Trade Faculty in Kuwait and was director of M. A. Kharafi & Sons before being elected to the National Assembly in 1975. He affiliated with the liberal deputies and was regarded as a pro-government liberal. However, Al-Kharafi has broken with the royal family on occasion. He criticized the ruling Al-Sabah family, and in July 2006 vigorously denounced the Israeli attacks on Lebanon saying that the war would "turn us all into terrorists".