Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah appealed Tuesday for national unity amid political tension in the oil-rich emirate caused by a lingering succession crisis within the ruling family. "Your country Kuwait is like a ship ... and no honest Kuwaiti will accept a hole to be opened in this ship," the emir said in a traditional address coinciding with the last 10 days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "The safety of the ship is a matter of life for us ... A strong nation is a united nation." The address will be read on state-run television at night by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on behalf of the ailing emir and his half-brother. The text was released by KUNA news agency.The emir, 77, has not been seen public since he opened Parliament in October last year. In August, he returned home after more than two months in the United States where he underwent a minor surgery. His crown prince Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah, 75, has been undergoing medical treatment in Kuwait and abroad since colon surgery in 1997. The address made no reference to the succession crisis within the Al-Sabah family. The emir stepped in on October 10 and promised a "swift resolution" to the crisis after a leading family figure publicly criticized the government and proposed a three-member committee to assist the leadership. The dynasty's two main branches, which have been alternating the post of head of state for about 90 years, are locked in what the local press calls