CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parentheticals) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Amortized cost of fixed maturities	$ 26,772,143	$ 26,544,806
Cost of equity securities	878,679	617,486
Short-term investments, amortized cost	271,465	322,563
Fair value of held to maturity securities	$ 3,116,940	$ 3,262,804
Ordinary shares, shares authorized (in shares)	999,990,000	999,990,000
Ordinary shares, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Ordinary shares, shares issued (in shares)	282,810,509	298,681,573
Ordinary shares, shares outstanding (in shares)	282,810,509	298,681,573